Fingers wide is only half the story
How deep and how springy your midline feels tells you far more about your recovery than the number of fingers that fit into the gap.
Quick answer
Width, meaning how many fingers fit between your abdominal muscles, is the easiest thing to measure and the most misleading thing to judge yourself on. Depth matters more: whether the tissue under your fingers feels shallow and springy, which means the linea alba is generating tension, or soft and sinking, which means it is not. A midline that stays a little wider but feels firm and supportive is a good outcome. A narrow gap that still sinks under your fingers is not finished. Track both, and track how your body feels under load, not just the finger count.
the width commonly used as a rough threshold, though it is a convention rather than a hard diagnostic line
the fall in diastasis prevalence from six weeks to twelve months postpartum without specific treatment
the quality clinicians look for in the linea alba, not the absence of a gap
What width actually measures
Width is the horizontal distance between the two halves of your rectus abdominis, measured at, above and below the belly button. At home you feel it in fingers. In a clinic it is measured in centimetres, or with ultrasound, which is the most accurate method available.
Width is useful for one thing: tracking change in yourself over time, using the same position, the same time of day and the same fingers. It is far less useful as a pass or fail line. Torsos differ, tissue differs, and a mum with a naturally wider linea alba can be perfectly strong. Cleveland Clinic and the NHS both describe diastasis recti as a normal consequence of pregnancy that commonly improves over the first year, rather than an injury with a single correct measurement.
There is a second reason to hold the number loosely. In the Sperstad cohort, prevalence fell steadily across the first year with no specific intervention at all.
60%
45.5%
32.6%
Source: Sperstad et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016.
If a third of women still measure a gap at a year, and most of them are walking around lifting toddlers without trouble, width on its own clearly is not the thing that decides how well your core works.
What depth is telling you
Depth is what your fingers feel when they press down, and it is the more informative half of the check. You are feeling the linea alba, the connective tissue seam running down your midline. Two things can happen when you engage:
- Springy and shallow. Your fingers get pushed up, or meet resistance close to the surface. The tissue is taking tension and transferring load across the midline. This is what you are working towards.
- Soft and sinking. Your fingers keep going, and there is little push back. The tissue is not yet generating tension, regardless of how narrow the gap looks.
This is why two mums with an identical two-finger gap can be in completely different places. Lee and Hodges, writing in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy in 2016, examined how the linea alba behaves during a curl-up in women with diastasis and found that pre-activating the deep abdominal wall changed the way the midline distorted, even though it did not simply close the gap. Narrowing the distance is not the same as restoring the tissue's ability to do its job.
Why depth is the better progress marker
Your midline is a load transfer system. When you cough, lift the car seat or push the pram uphill, pressure rises inside your abdomen and something has to hold that pressure without letting it dump forward. Tension does that. Narrowness by itself does not.
Practically, this means you can be doing everything right and see the finger count barely move for weeks while the feel of the tissue changes noticeably. That is progress, and it is the kind of progress a tape measure hides. It also cuts the other way: chasing a narrower number with hard crunches and sit-ups can make the doming worse, which we cover in why crunches can make things worse.
How to track your progress properly
Four checks, done the same way each time, roughly every four weeks. If you have never done the self-check, our at-home self-test guide covers the positioning first.
Step 1: Measure width in a fixed position
Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat. Lift your head and shoulders slightly. Feel above, at and below the navel, and note the finger width at each of the three points. Record the position and the time of day so you can repeat it exactly.
Step 2: Judge the depth at each point
With your head still lifted, press gently down. Note whether the tissue feels shallow and springy, moderately soft, or deep and sinking. Write down that description in words. This is the reading that matters most.
Step 3: Watch for doming under load
Look down your midline as you lift your head, and again during a movement you use daily, such as rolling out of bed. A ridge or a bulge along the centre means the pressure is not being managed yet. Read coning versus doming for what each looks like.
Step 4: Score your function, not your stomach
Note leaking, heaviness or dragging, back pain, and how you feel carrying your baby up the stairs. If these improve while the gap barely changes, your recovery is going well. If they worsen while the gap narrows, something in your program needs adjusting.
The short version
Stop grading yourself on finger width alone. A midline that feels firm and springy under pressure, with no doming and no leaking, is a healed core, even if the gap never fully disappears. Results vary from mum to mum, and a slightly wider but well-supported midline is a normal, functional outcome, not a failure.
When to see a physiotherapist rather than measure again
Book a women's health physiotherapist if the gap feels very deep with no tension at all, if you can feel a firm bulge along the midline that does not soften, if you have leaking that is not improving, heaviness or dragging in the vagina, or ongoing back or pelvic pain. The NHS, ACOG and RANZCOG all point women with persistent postnatal symptoms towards individual assessment. A firm midline bulge should be checked to rule out a hernia, which is a separate issue from diastasis and is not something exercise resolves.
Rebuild tension, not just a smaller number
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Frequently asked questions
Is a two-finger gap normal?
Two fingers is the rough convention many clinicians use, but it is a threshold of convenience rather than a firm diagnostic line. Plenty of women sit slightly above it with a firm, functional midline and no symptoms. What the tissue feels like matters more than which side of two you land on.
Can the gap ever close completely?
For some women it does, particularly in the first year, and the Sperstad data shows prevalence falling steadily over that period. For others it narrows and then stays slightly wider permanently. Closing fully is not the requirement for a strong core. Our realistic timeline guide sets out what to expect.
How do I know if my gap has depth or tension?
Press your fingers into the midline while you lift your head. If your fingers meet resistance near the surface or get pushed back, there is tension. If they sink with little push back, there is not yet. Doing the check the same way each time is what makes the comparison meaningful.
Does the gap get wider before it gets better?
It can appear to, especially if you first measured while tense, at a different time of day, or in a different position. Bloating and time of day genuinely change the reading. Compare like with like before concluding anything has gone backwards.
Should I measure every week?
No. Weekly measuring mostly captures noise and tends to make mums anxious rather than informed. Every four weeks is enough to see a real trend, and how you feel carrying your baby is a better weekly signal than a finger count. For the wider picture see our diastasis recti statistics page.
Sources: Sperstad JB et al., "Diastasis recti abdominis during pregnancy and 12 months after childbirth", British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016. Lee D, Hodges PW, "Behavior of the linea alba during a curl-up task in diastasis rectus abdominis", Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 2016. NHS, postnatal recovery guidance. Cleveland Clinic, diastasis recti overview. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and RANZCOG, postnatal care guidance.
This article is general education, not medical advice. Results vary from mum to mum. Please see your GP, midwife or a women's health physiotherapist for assessment and advice about your own recovery.