Is it recommended to have diastasis repair during c-section or wait until after birth to see if your body will recover?

I just watched my wife have a C-section 3 weeks ago. A traditional C-section does not provide very much exposure to the rectus muscles. The amount of exposure needed to properly repair the rectus diastasis is quite significant and just doesn't seem appropriate at the time of a C-section. If you have a significant diastasis, repairing a small section below the umbilicus will only put you at higher risk for a more problematic issue of weakness above the umbilicus. I would concentrate on enjoying your new little one and consider having a tummy tuck with formal complete rectus repair after you are done making your family. 

I recommend against having your OB tighten the lower muscles during your c-section. The muscle needs to be tightened the entire length and doing only the bottom will make the top appear even worse. Also, no disrespect to your OB, but this is beyond their scope of practice and the muscle needs to be repaired precisely and in a specific manner. Improper repair can cause problems for you later when your board certified plastic surgeon does your tummy tuck.

In general I believe its best to wait until after you have fully recovered from pregnancy before you address the muscles laxity or skin laxity.  This is quite different from other gyn procedures where performing a Tummy Tuck can be done at the same time, ie Hysterectomy, Tubal Ligation. 

I think ideally it would be best to wait until
you are back to pre-pregnancy weight prior to proceeding forward with any kind
of definitive repair and/or tummy tuck. This will help to ensure you achieve the best possible result. Make sure that your physician is board-certified in plastic surgery. Thank you for your question.

this is not a good idea to try and correct a distasis simultaneous to a c-section. Your body would have high circulation levels of hormones that would facilitate further relaxation for an acute repair. Better to recover and revisit this issue 9-12 months post partum to get the most predictable and best result most of the time.