How to Check Yourself for Diastasis Recti at Home

The single most useful skill in early postpartum recovery is knowing whether you have diastasis recti. You don't need a doctor's appointment or an ultrasound to find out. The two-finger self-check is the same test most women's health physios use as a first pass, and you can do it right now, on your bedroom floor, in about a minute.

Here's exactly how.

What you're checking for

Diastasis recti is a widening of the connective tissue (linea alba) between the two vertical strap muscles down the front of your belly. When those muscles get pushed too far apart during pregnancy, they may not come back together on their own after birth.

If you haven't read our full explainer yet: What is diastasis recti? gives you the background in 8 minutes. Otherwise, keep reading.

You're checking for two things:

1. How wide the gap is (measured in finger-widths)
2. How deep and soft it is (tension of the connective tissue)

The width matters, but the quality of the tissue matters more. A 3-finger gap with firm tension often needs less rehab than a 2-finger gap with soft, sinky tissue.

The setup (30 seconds)

You need:

• A flat surface (bed or floor)
• No belt, no jeans, easy access to your belly
• Empty bladder (a full one changes how your abs sit)

Ideally check yourself:

• Not immediately after eating
• Not right after a workout (muscles are pumped, gap looks smaller than it is)
• Not during your period (bloating changes the picture)
• At the same time of day when you're re-testing later

The two-finger check, step by step

This is what the check actually looks like: two fingers pressed gently into the midline, feeling for the gap between the muscle walls.

Step 1: lie down

Lie flat on your back on the bed or floor. Bend your knees, feet flat, roughly hip-distance apart. Rest your head on the surface. Take one relaxed breath in and out.

Step 2: find your landmarks

Place two fingers of your dominant hand directly on your midline, just above your belly button, fingertips pointing down toward your feet. Press gently, no pressure yet.

Step 3: lift your head

Slowly lift only your head off the surface, keeping shoulders relaxed. You should feel a mild engagement in the outer layer of your abs. Don't do a crunch, just lift the head.

Step 4: press and feel

As you lift, press your fingers gently into the midline. What you're feeling for:

• A firm wall of muscle on either side of your fingers, this is the rectus abdominis
• How many finger-widths fit between those walls at the deepest point
• How much your fingers sink downward before the connective tissue stops them

Step 5: repeat in three spots

Slowly move your fingers to three places:

• 2 cm above the navel (the most common site of separation)
• At the navel itself
• 2 cm below the navel

Diastasis often isn't uniform. Many women have a wide gap above the navel and a tighter one below (or vice versa).

Reading your result

Line up your finding against this scale:

Now the tension check:

• If the gap springs back firmly as your fingers sink less than 1 cm, the connective tissue is holding well
• If your fingers sink 2 cm or more before meeting resistance, the tissue is thin and needs more time regardless of width

A note on the "doming" sign

Watch the strip of skin down your midline as you lift your head. If you see a visible dome, ridge or tent-shape pushing up, that is your abdominal contents pushing through a weakened linea alba. Doming is a stronger sign than gap width alone that your core needs rehab before you return to any intense abdominal work.

What NOT to do based on your result

Whatever your gap size, stop doing these until you've done at least 6–8 weeks of targeted rehab:

• Crunches, sit-ups, bicycles
• Full planks held to fatigue
• Boat pose, V-ups, hollow holds
• Heavy overhead lifting
• Anything that visibly domes your belly

Read our detailed guide: What NOT to do with diastasis recti.

When you can't feel anything clearly

Some mums, especially in the first 3 months postpartum or if there's a layer of soft tissue on the belly, can't feel a clear "wall" of muscle. In that case:

• Try again in a week or two, the picture becomes clearer as swelling reduces
• Ask your partner to look at your midline from the side as you sit up from lying, sometimes the dome is visible even when the gap isn't obviously palpable
• If in doubt, book a one-time visit with a women's health physio for a professional exam

After the check, what to do

If you have any degree of diastasis:

• Start with lateral breathing and pelvic floor coordination, our lateral breathing guide walks you through it
• Avoid the exercises listed above
• Consider a structured program, the Mum21 12-Week Recovery Program is exactly this
• Retest yourself every 4 weeks at the same time of day

If you have no diastasis:

• Excellent, but still avoid crunches for the first 12 weeks postpartum
• Build your core from the inside out with breath work first, then progress
• Diastasis can still develop with poor exercise choices, so form matters

Retesting: track your progress

Retest at the same time of day, same conditions, every 4 weeks. Take a note on your phone with:

• Gap in each of 3 locations
• Tension (firm / medium / soft)
• Doming (yes / no)

Progress is rarely dramatic week to week, but 8 weeks of good rehab almost always shows a 1 cm improvement somewhere. That's your evidence you're on the right track.