Stephanie Kewin has always been a serious athlete: She played competitive basketball through her teenage years and into university; she?s run too many races to count; and as an adult, she?s competed in weight-lifting and CrossFit competitions.
But after the birth of her first son, Van, in 2014, an uncomfortable umbilical hernia?part of intestine popping through the abdominal wall? forced some physical restrictions on the then 30-year-old.
?Not long after Van was born, I started to notice a bulge above my belly button. I had already been diagnosed with pretty severe diastasis recti, which is the separation of the abdominal muscles caused by childbirth, and this bulge?which wasn?t really painful as much as it felt super weird?got caught between my ab muscles all the time. I?d have to shift around to pop it back where it belonged,? says Kewin. Believe it or not, this frightening anatomical oddity isn?t an unusual condition, especially during pregnancy. Because a woman?s muscles and tendons become more elastic and are required to stretch, the pressure of the growing baby can lead to a hernia. (Other, non-gestational causes include heavy lifting, fluid or increased pressure in the abdomen, excess weight, coughing or sneezing or straining while using the bathroom.)
?Umbilical hernias don?t often cause much of an issue,? says Magali Robert, a urogynecologist in Calgary with the Foothills Medical Centre, Alberta Health Services. In fact, not many umbilical hernias even need to be r...