I personally have had Diastasis Recti from midway through my first pregnancy and nearly all the way through my second. I know what it is like to have a core that just doesn't feel right and a belly that still looks pregnant months later. I did not "snap back" and wore pads for longer than I thought a woman of my age and fitness "should". It really made me feel helpless until my core began to improve.

The moment I heard about Diastasis Recti, it caught my attention. To be perfectly honest, I was horrified to find out that one day my abdominals would separate when I became pregnant! In that same moment, I was puzzled, why didn't I learn about this on my previous two instructor courses. I thought, isn't it important that we don't cause (unintentional) harm.

My first reason for creating this programme, is that Diastasis Recti is not common knowledge, even among fitness professionals. The result is that there is so much incorrect information out there. Women are so resourceful, and as we often go online to find information, this disinformation is what is often found instead, which may cause more harm than good.

Once I began teaching my own Pilates classes in 2011, I would occasionally spot the symptoms during foundational exercises when women were curled up in an "ab crunch" position. So I would modify for them, luckily I knew how. Then one day a woman came in for class who had a lingering wide gap and pelvic floor issues. She found the whole class a challenge to take part in, even with the modifications.

This was my first experience with the more serious core dysfunction that can commonly occur after having babies. We had a talk after class so I could teach her some exercises and one thing was apparent. How this was affecting her emotionally and mentally. She was dealing with this alone and doing what she could to feel strong again.

My second reason, I felt called to help! The postpartum period is already so challenging. We have a new baby to look after with a body that we can feel so disconnected to. And I have found, that often, until these issues up in conversation that we realise, we are not alone. Incontinence, lower back pain and the bulging DR tummy are so common, and definitely something that can be treated effectively with the right information in our hands.

In order to help and provide an effective programme, I have taken material developed over the course of nearly 10 years of teaching women after having their babies, my own experience with rehabbing my core, to create a programme that will help as many women as possible restore their core function, stop experiencing these issues and feel amazing about their bodies!