Healing Diastasis Recti With a Hernia: One Mom’s Real Postpartum Recovery Story

Making progress on closing a diastasis with a hernia can feel like a daunting task. Having worked with many moms through the process, every single person’s healing path is completely their own. 

Closing a diastasis recti (ab separation with stretched connective tissue) can have one path, but add in a hernia (ab separation with torn connective tissue) and you’ve got another path all together.

Even more challenging, what works for one mom might make another mom’s issue worse. Following what a friend did might feel productive in the moment but could lead to frustration when the results are less than stellar. 

Why? 

Because healing depends so much on how your body works together as a system - your pelvic floor, hips, diaphragm, rib expansion, ALL of your core muscles and even your internal organs. It’s a LOT of coordination. 

But managing a hernia is possible!

Which is why I love this story so much…

8 months postpartum

This mom came to see me at 8 months postpartum with a 4-finger wide diastasis and an umbilical hernia. She had a lot of pain in pregnancy, and while her pelvic pain from birth was getting progressively better, her upper back pain flared up regularly, her right knee would feel painful sometimes on stroller walks and her lower back pain was troublesome on most days too. 

She was dealing with daily pain interrupting her busy life with 2 kids.

She really wanted to feel stronger, and to get back to lifting at the gym and kickboxing. 

8 months postpartum

The challenge was, she felt disconnected to her core and was afraid to do the wrong thing or make her lower back pain worse, especially with the hernia.

Once she had clearance from her doctor to start working out (this is essential with a hernia!), we got right to work.

Within the first session of working together, she started feeling more space in her back and a ‘good sore’ in her core muscles. She became more aware of how she was sitting / standing / nursing and began to connect the dots between what we found in her movement assessment and the pain she was experiencing during the day.

She also knew “I can’t do this alone!” and we set up a plan to continue her progress. 

Within 2 months of working together - seeing each other 2x / week - she had no more lower back pain, very occasional knee pain and upper back pain, and when those did flare up, she knew exactly what to do movement-wise to get the pain to move out quickly. Her core muscles were beginning to fire in places she forgot she had (hello deep core and lower abs!), and her core resting tone was beginning to shift.

Over the next 4 months, we continued to refine her core activation. In this case, her obliques were over-firing (particularly on the right) and taking control of her core movement, causing the outward pressure in her belly. 

Using corrective exercises specific to her body and movement patterns, we were able to calm down the obliques, turn on the deep core, and help them play nicely together. 

We did this not just by looking at the core, but by looking at her entire movement system as a whole. How did her shoulder mobility affect her core engagement? How did her hip positioning affect how her obliques (and therefore her deep core) fire? 

In 6 months, we shifted many of the movement patterns that were holding her in a belly-forward position and causing a lot of lower back pain, and putting pressure on her hernia.

But that’s only one half of this puzzle. 

How she managed her diastasis recti and hernia:

Yes, I gave her corrective exercises to do that helped her use better mechanics, but she did the work of connecting the dots to how the mechanics from pregnancy were showing up in her daily life. 

She continually asked “when I do _____ movement, what should I be thinking about?” We would break it down and she would take that with her into the next week. 

Major shifts started to happen. Not only was she re-igniting muscles and creating new movement patterns during our sessions together, she was reinforcing it daily in her everyday life. 

Now, a year and a half later, she’s able to consistently activate her core with almost any movement I ask her to do. Overhead press? Connected. Single-handed lateral lunges with a twist? Nailing it. Crunches with leg drops? Slow and steady but ON POINT. And yep, CRUNCHES with a hernia. All because she’s managing her abdominal pressure correctly. 

Now, we’ve transitioned out of ‘corrective exercise’ mode and have entered the ‘strength gaining’ phase. We’re still working on endurance of her core, and she’s regularly lifting 30lbs on deadlifts, overhead pressing 20lb kettlebells and doing 30lb carries that mimic carrying her (30lb) 2-year old. 

Not a session goes by that I don’t have a smile on my face at some point because I’m SO dang proud of the work she’s done. 

It’s all because she committed to the (sometimes tedious) work of correcting patterns that she had even before pregnancy and showing up week after week. 

Make no mistake. She did ALL the work. I am her guide and lead her through corrections but she has shown up consistently for herself every. single. week. 

She’s living her life as a mom with curiosity about how her body is showing up for her. 

She’s staying connected to how she is using her body - lifting a 30lb baby and all the things that go along with being a mom on a daily basis.

And this is the result: 

Start of training 3 months of training 4 months of training 1 year of training

Start of training 1.5 years of training

If you’ve been told surgery is your only option…

Or you’ve been told you don’t need surgery but feel stuck trying to guess which movements help and which make things worse…

Or you’re tired of feeling disconnected from your core or scared to push yourself…

You’re not alone — and you are absolutely not out of options.

Your body can change. Your patterns can shift. And with the right guidance, you can feel strong, supported, and confident in your movement again — even with a hernia, even with a diastasis, even years postpartum.

This mom’s story is just one example of what’s possible when you pair the right corrective exercises with a real understanding of how your whole body works together. And if you’re reading this and thinking “I want that,” then it’s time.

You don’t have to figure this out by yourself.

Let’s talk about your symptoms, your goals, and what your body needs right now. Together, we can build a plan that actually makes sense for you.

👉 Click here to schedule a consult and get started on your own healing path.

FAQ: Healing Diastasis with a Hernia

Q: Can you heal diastasis recti without surgery?

A: Yes! With the right exercises and movement patterns, many women can significantly improve diastasis and manage a hernia without surgery.

Q: How long does it take to see improvement?

A: Every body is different, but many moms notice positive changes within a few weeks of focused movement.

Q: Is it safe to exercise with a hernia?

A: With medical clearance, yes! The key is choosing the right exercises that don’t increase intra-abdominal pressure.

Q: What exercises should I avoid?

A: I never want you to avoid exercises all together. Instead of avoiding, let’s progress. There are always regressions to the exercises we want to get back to - if you want to be able to do ‘traditional’ ab exercises again, like crunches and planks and bicycles, you can get back there! Start at an easier level where your body is ready to engage and progress your way back. (And if you need help, I’ve got you!)

Share This With a Mom Who Needs It

Know a mom struggling with postpartum diastasis or a hernia? Share this article with her! Recovery is possible, and she doesn’t have to do it alone.