Postpartum Exercise, Pelvic Floor Disorders and Diastasis Recti Abdominis: What the Pooled Evidence Shows

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with postpartum patients in outpatient orthopaedics, pelvic health, women’s health or general wellness settings, and clinicians who field questions about returning to exercise after childbirth.

Licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Physical therapist assistants work under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist; evaluation, diagnosis and plan-of-care decisions remain with the physical therapist.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

Beamish NF, Davenport MH, Ali MU, Gervais MJ, Sjwed TN, Bains G, Sivak A, Deering RE, Ruchat SM. Impact of postpartum exercise on pelvic floor disorders and diastasis recti abdominis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2025;59(8):562–575. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2024-108619. PMID: 39694630. PMCID: PMC12013572.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42022359282.

This course reports the findings and conclusions of the source review only. It does not add recommendations beyond those the authors and the guidance they cite have made.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe what this systematic review and meta-analysis found about pelvic floor muscle training started in the first year after childbirth and the odds of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
2. State what the pooled findings showed for abdominal muscle training and inter-rectus distance measured at rest and during a head lift task, including how certain the authors were.
3. Explain which postpartum outcomes the authors described as having limited or inconclusive evidence, and name the main limitations they reported.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast: Postpartum Exercise and the Pelvic Floor (about nine minutes)
3. What the Review Asked and Who Was Included
4. How the Evidence Was Gathered and Graded
5. What Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Changed
6. Abdominal Training, Inter-Rectus Distance and What Remains Unsettled
7. What the Authors Say It Could Mean for Postpartum Care
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Beamish NF, Davenport MH, Ali MU, Gervais MJ, Sjwed TN, Bains G, Sivak A, Deering RE, Ruchat SM. Impact of postpartum exercise on pelvic floor disorders and diastasis recti abdominis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2025;59(8):562–575. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2024-108619. PMID: 39694630. PMCID: PMC12013572.
2. PROSPERO registration number CRD42022359282.
3. This course reports the findings and conclusions of the source review only. It does not add recommendations beyond those the authors and the guidance they cite have made.