Wellbeing after Miscarriage programme - part 3
It's common to have complicated feelings about your body after miscarriage. This can also affect your emotions, perhaps making you feel more anxious, depressed or low in mood.
Movement is one way you can work on this.
In this session Jenni also explains more about abdominal diastasis or diastasis recti (separation of the muscles in your stomach). You can read more about this below too.
Jenni will show you exactly what to do. This is just to give you a general idea. We will also show you an easier and harder version of all the movements.
Warm up in standing:
- deep breathing while thinking about your posture and deep core
- shoulder rolls into side bends into side roll downs
- foot and ankle movements.
Hands and knees (4 point):
- swimming - moving legs and arms
- knees hovers
- half plank, down onto elbows
- thigh stretch.
Lying on your back with knees bent:
- grounding and body scan
- knee drops sideways with finger tips to sky
- single leg scissor movements
- stomach muscle movements up and sideways
- shoulder bridge.
Lying on your right hand side:
- knee lifts
- clam lifts
- rainbow shapes with top leg
- thigh stretches.
Sitting into roll down and watching your stomach muscles for doming.
Lying on your left hand side:
- knee lifts
- clam lifts
- rainbow shapes with top leg
- thigh stretches.
Lying on your back with knees bent:
- stretching your glutes
- foot to ceiling (hamstring stretch)
Hip flexor stretch.
Standing:
- balances
- squats and jump and land to help strengthen your pelvic floor.
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deep core breaths and body scan with positive talk towards your body.
Keep practising the jumping exercise Jenni showed you in this session, ready for some higher impact exercise coming up soon.
Remind yourself of the body scan and core breathing and pelvic floor exercises here. We have more information on pelvic floor symptoms and what to do about them here.
If you feel up to it, you could also try a simple physical activity, such as going for a walk, and notice how it affects your emotions that day.
Diastasis recti is when the 2 halves of the stomach ‘6 pack’ muscle (the rectus abdominis) move apart. It can feel like a wide gap in the stomach muscles. It can affect how your core muscles work.
Normal stomach muscles
Stomach muscles with diastasis recti
Images used with permission of the owner, Grainne Donnelly, www.absolute.physio
Who can get diastasis recti?
Diastasis recti can affect anyone.
Some things make you more likely to have it. These include:
- how good your skin is at stretching
- being overweight
- stretching of the tummy muscles during the later part of pregnancy
- having had lots of full-term pregnancies - the risk can increase with each pregnancy
It’s important for everyone to know about diastasis recti.
Symptoms of diastasis recti
You may have:
- bulging or doming in the centre of your tummy when you move in a way that increases the pressure in your abdomen, for example sitting up, coughing, sneezing, lifting something heavy and some core exercises.
- feeling uncomfortable along the centre of your tummy, especially when you have been more active
- a feeling of a gap when you feel along the middle of your tummy
- lower back pain
- leaking wee or poo
- symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse.
Getting help for diastasis recti
Your GP can refer you to a specialist pelvic health physiotherapist.
There are also some things you can do at home.
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Don’t hold your breath when lifting, rolling over in bed or standing up from sitting. Instead breathe out and lift and squeeze your pelvic floor at the same time. This stops you from creating a build up of pressure in your stomach area, which can make symptoms worse.
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Straining when you go to the toilet also makes diastasis recti worse by creating pressure in your stomach area. Try not to get constipated. Putting your feet on a stool when you go to the toilet makes it easier to pass poo.
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Learn how to control the pressure in your stomach area by switching on your pelvic floor and deep core muscles. You should also strengthen these muscles to support the area. Jenni shows you how to do this in Core connection session 1, and throughout the programme.
- You may notice diastasis symptoms (such as doming) or pelvic floor symptoms (such as bulging, pressure or leaking) during higher intensity core exercises such as sit ups, plank work and double leg lifting/lowering. Start with the core exercises that you can do without symptoms and gradually increase to the higher intensity exercises over time. You may need the advice and guidance of a pelvic health physiotherapist to help you do this
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