Postpartum Exercises for Diastasis Recti: A Gentle Core Recovery Guide

After birth, it can feel as though your core has forgotten how to support you. Standing up, feeding your baby, carrying a car seat or even rolling out of bed can feel surprisingly different. If you have also noticed a ridge, gap or bulging through the middle of your abdomen, you may be dealing with diastasis recti, a common widening of the abdominal muscles during and after pregnancy.

What is diastasis recti?

Your rectus abdominis muscles are the two long muscles that run vertically down the front of your abdomen. Between them sits connective tissue called the linea alba. During pregnancy, the growing uterus stretches this tissue and the two sides of the abdominal wall can move farther apart. This widening is known as diastasis recti, or abdominal separation.

Some separation is very common after pregnancy and often reduces naturally as the body recovers. What matters is not only the width of the gap, but also how well you can control pressure through your abdomen, whether you see pronounced doming during movement, and whether everyday activities feel painful or unstable.

The goal is not to “close the gap” as fast as possible

A better early goal is to rebuild control. Can you breathe without bracing hard? Can you gently engage your lower abdomen? Can you get out of bed without a strong ridge appearing through the middle? Can you carry your baby without feeling as though your whole midsection is giving way?

Those are useful signs of functional progress. Start with movements that teach your pelvic floor, diaphragm and deeper abdominal muscles to work together, then make the exercises gradually harder as control improves.

7 gentle postpartum exercises to begin rebuilding your core

These exercises are intentionally simple. The objective is quality, breathing and control, not fatigue.

1. Diaphragmatic breathing with deep-core connection

Why it helps: this is the foundation for learning to manage abdominal pressure instead of automatically holding your breath or pushing outward.

How to do it:

1. Lie comfortably on your back or side with your knees supported.
2. Place one hand around the lower abdomen and the other around the lower ribs.
3. Breathe in gently and allow your ribs and abdomen to expand naturally.
4. As you breathe out, gently draw the lower abdomen inward, as though you were slowly fastening a low pair of jeans.
5. Keep the contraction light enough that you can continue breathing.

Start with: 4 to 5 controlled breaths, gradually progressing as it becomes easier.

2. Pelvic-floor contractions

Your pelvic floor and deep abdominal muscles work as part of the same pressure-management system. Imagine gently preventing yourself from passing wind and urine at the same time. You should feel a subtle internal lift rather than a maximal squeeze.

Practise a mixture of gentle longer holds and shorter contractions, always relaxing fully between repetitions. Do not clench your buttocks, grip your inner thighs or hold your breath.

If you have urinary or bowel leakage, vaginal heaviness, a dragging sensation or symptoms of prolapse, ask for a pelvic-health physiotherapy assessment rather than simply increasing repetitions.

3. Pelvic tilts

How to do it: lie on your back with your knees bent and feet supported. Breathe out, gently engage your lower abdomen and tilt the pelvis so the small of your back moves slightly towards the surface beneath you. Hold briefly while breathing normally, then return to neutral.

This should be a small, controlled movement. Start with around 5 slow repetitions.

4. Heel slides

Heel slides teach your core to stay controlled while one leg moves.

1. Lie on your back with both knees bent.
2. Gently connect the lower abdomen as you breathe out.
3. Slowly slide one heel away from you.
4. Stop before your pelvis begins to rotate or your abdomen starts to dome.
5. Return the heel and repeat on the other side.

Begin with 5 repetitions per side. The distance the heel travels is less important than maintaining control.

5. Bent-knee fallouts

Lie on your back with knees bent. Gently engage the lower abdomen and allow one knee to open towards the side. Keep the pelvis as still as possible, then return the leg to centre. Repeat on the other side.

If your pelvis rolls, your breath stops or the centre of your abdomen pushes sharply outward, make the movement smaller.

6. Glute bridges

Your postpartum core is not only your stomach. Strong glutes and hips help with walking, lifting and carrying.

Lie on your back with knees bent and feet approximately hip-width apart. Gently activate your lower abdomen, press through your feet and slowly raise your hips. Avoid aggressively arching the lower back. Pause, then lower with control. Start with 5 to 10 repetitions.

7. Four-point core activation, then modified bird dog

Move onto your hands and knees with hands beneath shoulders and knees beneath hips. Keep the spine comfortable. Breathe out and gently draw the lower abdomen inward without rounding your back.

When you can hold this position comfortably, progress by slowly sliding one leg backwards. Later, you can progress towards lifting one arm or the opposite arm and leg. If your stomach hangs heavily, domes or you lose your breathing rhythm, return to the easier version.

The most useful rule: watch for doming

During early recovery, pay attention to what happens through the centre of your abdomen. If a movement creates a pronounced ridge, cone or outward bulge, reduce the range, slow down, change your breathing or return to an easier version.

This does not mean you are permanently banned from planks, crunches or harder exercise. It means your current exercise should match your current level of pressure control. Progression matters more than choosing a supposedly “perfect” list of exercises.

Where a postpartum support band can fit in

Once you understand the exercises, there is an important distinction to make:

A postpartum belly band should not be sold as something that magically closes diastasis recti. Your abdominal wall still needs to regain strength and coordination. But there are many hours in a new mother's day when she is not lying on an exercise mat.

You may be feeding for long periods, standing and rocking your baby, walking with a pram, carrying a changing bag, getting in and out of bed or simply trying to move around the house while your abdomen still feels soft and unsupported.

That is the role we designed BelleVie RestoreWrap™ Postpartum Belly Band to fill.

Why adjustable support makes more sense postpartum

Your postpartum abdomen does not necessarily need the same pressure everywhere. The upper abdomen may feel relatively comfortable while the lower abdomen feels much more sensitive. After a C-section, that difference can be even more noticeable.

RestoreWrap uses three adjustable support zones, allowing you to personalise the hold through the upper abdomen, middle and lower section rather than relying on one fixed level of tension around your entire stomach.

This can make RestoreWrap useful when you want:

• an added feeling of abdominal support while standing or walking;
• additional support around the lower back during everyday movement;
• something you can loosen or tighten as your body changes;
• support that can be adjusted differently across the abdomen;
• a discreet layer under everyday clothing.

Should you wear RestoreWrap while doing these exercises?

Not necessarily.

When you are deliberately practising core rehabilitation, it can be useful to loosen or remove external support so you can feel how your own abdominal wall responds, see whether you are doming and learn to control your breathing.

RestoreWrap often makes more sense around the exercise session: during the rest of your day when you are walking, standing, feeding, carrying your baby or gradually returning to everyday activity.

A simple 10-minute postpartum core routine

If gentle postpartum exercise has been cleared for you, a beginner session could look like this:

Afterwards, if comfortable, add a short walk. Increase duration and difficulty gradually rather than chasing soreness.

What about C-section recovery?

A C-section creates a different postpartum experience. The lower abdomen and incision area may remain sensitive, and your return to exercise should take your surgical recovery into account.

Do not pull a support wrap tightly over a painful, irritated or unhealed incision without medical guidance. If your wound is red, increasingly painful, opening, leaking or you feel unwell, contact your maternity or medical team.

Once external support has been cleared and feels comfortable, the advantage of RestoreWrap's separate adjustment zones is that you do not have to tighten the entire abdomen just to feel more supported higher up.

When to see a pelvic-health physiotherapist

Consider professional assessment if you have a separation that remains very obvious after the early postpartum period, persistent abdominal doming despite regressions, significant back or abdominal pain, urinary or bowel leakage, vaginal heaviness, prolapse symptoms, difficulty returning to everyday activity or simply uncertainty about how to progress safely.

A pelvic-health physiotherapist can assess far more than the number of fingers that fit into an abdominal gap. They can look at breathing, pelvic-floor function, scar mobility, abdominal tension, strength and how your core behaves during real movement.

The goal is not to “snap back”

Your body does not need to be punished for looking postpartum after having a baby.

A more useful goal is to restore control, rebuild strength and make everyday movement feel manageable again.

Start with breathing. Reconnect with your pelvic floor. Build control through the deep abdominal muscles. Progress only when the movement feels stable. Watch for doming. And give your recovery the time it deserves.

Then, for the hours between those exercise sessions, external support can be one more practical tool.

Sources and further guidance

This article was prepared using general postnatal exercise and abdominal-separation guidance from the NHS and standard pelvic-health rehabilitation principles. Individual recovery timelines vary, particularly after C-section, assisted delivery or birth complications.