During pregnancy, as the mid-section gets bigger and bigger, the connective tissue or fascia between the paired vertical rectus muscles get stretched. This is called rectus diastasis. Many times, especially after multiple pregnancies, the stretched tissue doesn’t return to its pre-pregnancy state, resulting in a bloated or barrel shaped abdomen. In order for the abdominal wall to be tight again, surgical repair of the stretched tissue is performed to bring the muscles back together in the midline.