Neural drive to the diaphragm muscle (DIAm) for breathing is generated in the medulla and descends primarily ipsilaterally to phrenic motor neurons (PhMNs) in the cervical spinal cord. Neuromotor control of the DIAm during breathing involves motor unit (MU) recruitment, sustained activity, and derecruitment, which may be differentially altered on ipsilateral and contralateral sides after C spinal hemisection (CSH). In awake rats, bilateral DIAm electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded via chronically implanted electrodes during eupnea in nine Sprague-Dawley rats before and 14 days () after CSH. The durations of MU recruitment and derecruitment were estimated by evaluating EMG signal stationarity, i.e., changes in the mean square average of onset- and offset-aligned 10-ms bins within a longer (e.g., 80 ms) sampling period reflect changes in EMG due to MU recruitment. The amplitudes of DIAm EMG at the end of the recruitment and beginning of the derecruitment phase were measured. On the ipsilateral side, CSH decreased DIAm EMG recruitment amplitude by ∼30% and peak amplitude by ∼35% by , likely reflecting a decrease in the number of MUs recruited. On the contralateral side, CSH increased recruitment amplitude by ∼70% and peak amplitude by ∼80% by , likely reflecting an increase in the number of MUs recruited. The derecruitment amplitude decreased ipsilaterally and increased contralaterally, consistent with the recruitment of higher threshold MUs contralaterally. The present study reveals that the impact of CSH on ipsilateral and contralateral DIAm neuromotor control varies depending on the loss of ipsilateral neural drive. Neuromotor control of the diaphragm muscle (DIAm) after C spinal hemisection (CSH) is impacted differentially between ipsilateral and contralateral sides. We show neural drive to ipsilateral phrenic motor neurons decreases after CSH, leading to a reduction in the number of DIAm motor units (MUs) recruited. Contralateral neural drive increases after CSH, leading to an increase in the number of MU recruited. These results provide novel information about the impact of CSH on DIAm neuromotor control.