Why Your Core is Important During Pregnancy

Why is your core important during pregnancy? A lot of people think they need a strong core to help them during labor, when in fact, the uterus does most the contracting, not the core. It is important to be able to contract your core while relaxing your pelvic floor if you are going to actively push during labor, but the reality is that our bodies know what to do if we let them. Your uterus will contract strongly enough to help your baby find its way out of you. 

So why do we need a strong core during pregnancy? Our core is what supports our back as well as our arm and leg movements. So if we don’t have a strong core, then our other movements will be less than superb. 

What is the core? The core is basically your deep abdominal, back, glute, and pelvic floor muscles. There is a muscle called the rectus abdomens muscle. It is your “6-pack” muscle on your stomach and is not actually part of your core. In fact, during pregnancy this muscle usually splits causing something called a diastasis recti (DR). When you have too large a DR it makes it hard for your core to work. 

A DR is not a concern and usually goes away on its own after pregnancy. Sometimes, it does need a little extra help to close so that you do not have issues down the road. If this is the case, it is important to seek a healthcare professional or fitness expert who specializes in treating DRs. 

What issues could come from having a DR? The research is still inconclusive, but it appears that people with DRs are more likely to have back pain, incontinence, difficulty lifting their children or other objects and pain with sex. Often people complain about having a “mom pooch” after pregnancy that is usually from having a DR. 

There are ways to help prevent having too large a DR during pregnancy. The biggest one is posture and making sure you are not doing a “sit up” to get out of bed. There are also exercises that can help prevent DRs.