Pregnancy & postpartum
Is coning during pregnancy something to worry about?
Pregnancy Rules, Revisited: Episode 4
You're mid-crunch, mid-plank, or just sitting up in bed, and you look down to see a ridge running down the middle of your belly. If your first thought was "oh no, did I just break something?", you're in very good company.
What coning actually is
Coning, sometimes called doming, is when the middle of your belly bulges into a ridge as your abdominal pressure increases. It happens along the linea alba, the band of connective tissue that runs between the two sides of your rectus abdominis (your "six-pack" muscles). As baby grows, that tissue stretches and the distance between the two muscle bellies increases to make room. This is called diastasis recti.
You'll often hear it described as "ab separation," but that phrase makes it sound like something tore or came apart, which isn't what's happening. It's your body adapting to make space for baby.
This is expected
In a study by Mota and colleagues, every participant had diastasis recti by 35 weeks of pregnancy. By six months postpartum, that number dropped to 39%. In other words, some increased distance between the ab muscles is part of pregnancy for nearly everyone, and for many women it improves on its own after birth.
What the research says about core exercise
A 2024 randomized trial by Theodorsen and colleagues had pregnant women with diastasis recti do a 12-week supervised program of abdominal and pelvic floor exercises starting around 24 weeks. Compared with women who didn't do the program, the exercises didn't increase the distance between the muscles. That's encouraging news if you've been avoiding core work out of fear. And so far, no research has linked coning during pregnancy with diastasis recti after birth.
Coning as information
Rather than a red flag, think of coning as feedback. It can be a sign that your core needs more strength or a different strategy for managing pressure in that moment, and the answer is usually to keep loading your core thoughtfully, not to avoid it. If you notice it, here are a few things to try:
- Exhale as you do the hardest part of the movement
- Roll to your side to get up from lying down instead of sitting straight up
- Reduce the load or change the angle of the exercise
- Try a different variation that feels more supported
Learning to brace functionally
Your core works like a canister: your diaphragm on top, your pelvic floor on the bottom, and your abs and back muscles wrapped around the sides. Learning to brace that whole canister together, matched to what the movement asks of you, helps you manage pressure as your belly grows. A gentle exhale might be enough for getting up off the couch, while a heavier lift may call for a stronger brace. This is something a pelvic floor PT can help you practice.
If coning comes with pain, a feeling of heaviness, or leaking, that's a good reason to check in with a pelvic floor PT.
The takeaway
Coning isn't a sign that you've damaged your core. It's a normal part of pregnancy for many women and a helpful cue to adjust how you move. As always, your training through pregnancy should be discussed with your provider based on your individual needs and goals.
And if you'd like help building core work that feels good through pregnancy and postpartum, reach out through the interest form or DM me ALIGNED on Instagram.
Research referenced
- Theodorsen et al., 2024. Pregnant women may exercise both abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy without increasing the diastasis recti abdominis: a randomised trial. Journal of Physiotherapy. PMID 38472049
- Mota et al. Prevalence and risk factors of diastasis recti abdominis from late pregnancy to 6 months postpartum, and relationship with lumbo-pelvic pain. Manual Therapy.
This post is general education, not medical advice. It isn’t a substitute for an evaluation by a qualified healthcare provider.