Ashley James has revealed that trying to get a belly button piercing helped her realise she might need surgery. The This Morning star and author shared on Instagram that her body had potentially been "damaged" during childbirth.
Ashley, 39, shared a video of her belly button and wrote: "I went to get pierced hoping for a normal bar. I was told it wasn't possible partially because my original piercing was done quite badly (fair I was 16 and went somewhere cheap) and secondly because my body has changed so much from pregnancy and thirdly because your skin thins as you get older. I felt about 104."
Diastasis recti symptoms
She then shared a webpage about the medical complications of diastasis recti, which is where the abdominal muscles separate during pregnancy. The complications included an umbilical hernia, constipation, increased back, pelvic and hip pain, leaking pee and pain during sex.
Ashley added: "She [the piercer] basically said my sticky out belly button would put pressure on a bar and it's sent me down a spiral of how much pregnancy has changed my body!
"I definitely have diastasis recti because I get doming when I do sit ups and another part of that is the sticky out belly button. It's made me annoyed with myself I've not got it sorted and annoyed with the system that we're not checked and just left damaged after birth."
Exercises and physio
"I'm going to try and do some exercises to improve it but I should probably see a physio to know how bad it is and if I need surgery," she added. "Now I have a piercing that I feel like draws more attention to my belly button. I used to love my piercing and I thought it would be empowering to put it back in but now I feel annoyed."
According to the NHS, it is very common for the two muscles in the middle of your stomach to separate during pregnancy and they usually end up two finger widths apart. It is caused when the womb pushes the muscles apart, making them longer and weaker.
Motherhood journey
In most women, the separation will go back to normal by the time their baby is eight weeks old, but they do encourage new mothers to regularly check the gap is getting smaller. If after eight weeks, the gap is still obvious, they suggest contacting your GP.
Ashley has two children, Alfie, four, and Ada, two, whom she shares with her partner Tommy Andrews. She previously spoke to the Mirror about her "journey" as a mother.
"I think the reason that so many of us struggle is not because of our babies and the bond we have with our babies but because we're almost trying to do the impossible, in a system that doesn't necessarily support us, or in a system that hasn't really evolved since the days that the majority of us were housewives."
"Even if you look at the school hours versus working hours and the cost of childcare, there are so many barriers. I think it's really hard, even working all day, you just have to keep going. I feel in a really good place with motherhood and I feel like they've become part of my drive to fight for equality and to fight for positive change."
