21/10/2026
A New Study Published on Diastasis Recti
What the review says:
“Diastasis Re**us Abdominis: Time to Reconsider Our Approach” was published in July 2026 in the Journal of Women’s & Pelvic Health Physical Therapy, the journal of the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy (APTA). It was written by three of the most respected researchers in this field: physiotherapist and researcher Nina-Margrethe Theodorsen; Gráinne Donnelly, advanced practice pelvic health physiotherapist at Absolute Physio and researcher at Cardiff Metropolitan University; and Professor Kari Bø of the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, with Dr Patricia Mota as guest editor. Between them, these women have shaped much of what we actually know about the postpartum abdominal wall.
Drawing on 43 studies, here is what they found.
Abdominal separation in pregnancy is a normal physiological adaptation, not a defect. Almost every woman’s abdominal wall widens by late pregnancy, because it is supposed to. It is making room for a baby. The authors warn explicitly against the over-pathologizing of normal pregnancy-related adaptations.
Most women recover, and a good number don’t fully – and both are normal. Around 60% still have an increased gap at six weeks postpartum, 45% at six months, 32% at a year. So recovery is the rule, but a third of women are still living with some separation twelve months on. If that’s you, nothing has gone wrong.
What to do with this, today
If you take one thing from this research, take this: your body did something normal, and you are allowed to move.
Stop measuring your worth in finger widths. Notice instead what your body can do this week that it could not do last month. If you have symptoms that worry you – a bulge or doming under load, leaking, heaviness, pain – see a pelvic health physiotherapist, because that is exactly what they are there for, and good care should leave you more confident, not more afraid.
And if you want a clear, progressive path to rebuild strength and trust in your body, whether you are six weeks or sixteen years postpartum, that is what Core Restore is here for; we are here for YOU.
The gap was never the whole story. You were never broken. Now the research says so too.
Reference: Theodorsen N-M, Donnelly G, Bø K. Diastasis Re**us Abdominis: Time to Reconsider Our Approach. A Scoping Review. Journal of Women’s & Pelvic Health Physical Therapy, published ahead of print 28 July 2026. DOI: 10.1097/JWH.0000000000000383
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