There is a lot of mis-infomation about abdominal separation (aka diastasis recti aka DRA) circulating the internet so I wanted to clarify some points.

First of all- it’s normal for your abs to separate during pregnancy. Every person who makes it to the end of their third trimester will experience abdominal separation. It’s normal and healthy

What you want to watch for is something called coning or doming.

Your linea alba is the place in the middle of your belly where you abdominal muscles come together (think of it like a tendon for your abdominal muscles). This is the main structure that separates during pregnancy.

When your abs separate, a “weak” point is created at the linea alba where pressure can escape. Pressure often takes the path of least resistance, so as your abs become thinner and the gap between them becomes wider, the pressure starts to escape out the front more (enter coning/doming)

Everyone starts to notice this at different points in their pregnancy and with different movements. Pressure is generated in our abdomens with a variety of things (think coughing/sneezing, lifting, standing up from a low surface, exercise, etc) so checking for doming with these different movements becomes important.

If you notice doming- trying to intentionally activate your core OR modifying the movement/exercise to reduce the overall amount of doming you experience. A little bit of doming isn’t going to kill you, however, you don’t want to constantly pushing through doming because that repetitive stress on the tissue makes it more challenge for your abs to heal postpartum