Here Is What You Need To Understand About Pregnancy Bras Before Buying Them
Not all bodies are the same. This is especially true for pregnant women. Some may see changes in their body right from the start, while others only notice it halfway through pregnancy.
And if you are one of those moms who are excited to start your pregnancy journey but don’t see significant changes in your body, you might begin to panic and think something is wrong. You might even feel disappointed because you are planning to start buying new clothes and maternity bras.
But you need not be alarmed. The general rule is that you should purchase and start wearing maternity clothes and a bra as soon as you see changes in your body. This usually happens towards the beginning of the second trimester when you start to feel increased sensitivity and size of your breasts. When this happens, you have to shift to wearing something more comfortable and would offer more support than your usual bra.
Why Is There a Need For a Maternity Lingerie?
If you are a first-time mother, every change in your body might stress you out. But you need not panic because all these changes happen to accommodate your growing baby inside of you.
Your breasts are one of the parts of your body that will go through significant changes during pregnancy. The changes are caused by an increase in the hormones estrogen, prolactin, and progesterone that stimulate the growth of breast duct cells, rapid breast enlargement and milk production, and the formation of milk-producing cells. All of these changes occur to prepare your breasts for feeding your baby. Some of these changes are:
- Increase in the size of your breasts
- Increased sensitivity of your nipples
- Increase in the size of your areola and nipples
- Bigger Montgomery glands (oil glands found in the nipples and act to lubricate and serve as a protective barrier against bacteria)
Because of all these changes, it is best to use a comfortable bra that will provide the right kind of support and won’t put additional pressure on your breasts, and maternity brassieres are designed specifically for this purpose.
What is the Variation Between a Maternity and Nursing Bra?
An important attire during the pregnancy period is maternity bras. These are designed to provide additional support to your growing breasts without adding to the discomfort. Some maternity brassieres may have underwire support, while most offer soft non-wire support. Some pregnant women would buy their bras as their breasts change in size, while others buy several pairs of bigger sizes of their favourite prepregnancy bras ahead of time and shift to nursing bras in the third trimester of their pregnancy.
The main difference between maternity and nursing bras is that the latter have clasps or clip-down cups which you can put down so you can breastfeed your baby with ease without removing your bra. Pregnant women often purchase their first collection towards the middle of their third trimester because they offer enough support for the breasts.
Tips in Buying Bras During Pregnancy
Whether you opt for a maternity or nursing bra, remember to look for these:
- Look for bras with moulded cups and removable foam. While you might think that your growing breasts need more support than ever, using bras with underwire support may place unnecessary pressure on your breasts and might even cause infections such as mastitis, so avoid using wire-support bras in the meantime.
- Look for bras with thick straps. Because your breasts are increasing in size and becoming heavier, you need extra support from the top and back to pull up your breasts. Bras with thicker straps, t-backs, or racerbacks can provide this kind of support.
- Look for bras that are of breathable materials. You want maximum comfort for your growing breasts.
- You also want to protect your breasts from infection to be able to continue breastfeeding your baby. Sweat may accumulate in your breasts, and using a bra with no breathable material will only trap the sweat in, which leads to infection.
- Look for bras made of stretchy fabric. Bras with stretchy fabric save you a little bit of money so that you don’t have to buy new ones every time your breasts grow in size.
Whether you opt to buy a maternity or nursing bra is up to you. What is important is that you get the best support and protection for your breasts during your pregnancy journey.
Here Is What You Need To Understand About Pregnancy Bras Before Buying Them