Niki's Story

Diastasis recti is where the muscles that run down the middle of your stomach separate during pregnancy. It's really common and usually goes back to normal within eight weeks of delivery. But sometimes it doesn't. And it can lead to back problems and hernia - both things that Niki Odogwu has been dealing with since childbirth, alongside stress urinary incontinence. She shares her story with Helen and explains how a postpartum fitness programme has made all the difference.

Show Notes

Diastasis recti is where the muscles that run down the middle of your stomach separate during pregnancy. It's really common and usually goes back to normal within eight weeks of delivery, but sometimes it doesn't. And it can lead to back problems and hernia - both things that Niki Odogwu has been dealing with since her daughters were born, as well as stress urinary incontinence. 

In this episode, Niki tells Helen how her back troubles got to the point where she couldn't get out of bed and how a postpartum fitness programme changed everything - helping her to manage her back pain and strengthen her pelvic floor. They discuss how a lack of information leaves women in the dark about our own bodies and why we need to do better at postpartum care:

We don't focus on ourselves and our own care. It's like we don't matter. And as women we need to get out of that mindset and stop feeling that by looking after ourselves, we're being selfish mums, or we should be putting everything into the children, or this is the price you pay for having children. It shouldn't be like that. 

You can find more information about Diastasis Recti here and here

The postpartum fitness programme MUTU System* is here

*This is not an ad, Why Mums Don't Jump has no affiliation with MUTU System.

What is Why Mums Don't Jump?

One woman’s mission to end the stigma around leaks and lumps after childbirth. Honest chat about incontinence, prolapse and pelvic pain. Not a trampoline in sight. Hosted by Helen Ledwick.