Bra fitting advice during pregnancy and breastfeeding

Congratulations on your pregnancy or the birth of your baby!

As your boobs are changing throughout your pregnancy (and after delivery), trying to find a comfortable, well fitted bra can be a challenge. We hope this blog post will offer some bra advice for you during your pregnancy and breastfeeding months.

NOTE: All of this information is from the point of view of Avokado, based on personal experience of individual staff members and feedback from customers. Please consult your Doctor or Midwife for any further information about breast care during and after pregnancy.

During Early Pregnancy

At the start of pregnancy, your breasts are likely to become tender and increase in size. As soon as your current bras start to become uncomfortable or you find that the wires start digging in, we recommend that you have your first maternity bra fitting.

As opposed to a regular bra fitting where we fit the hooks onto the loosest ‘eyes’ on the band, when you are in the early stages of pregnancy we actually fit you closer to the tightest ‘eyes’ so that you can loosen the bra out over time when your rib cage begins to expand as your baby grows and your body changes. We also want to leave some space in the cups so that you do not need to keep replacing your bras as your boobs get bigger! At this stage, wearing a normal underwired bra is still okay as long as it is correctly fitted- you do not want the wires to be pressing on your breast tissue so the wires need to be flat against your chest and nice and far back under your arms. Some bras such as Rebecca have a bit of stretch in the cup so are suitable during pregnancy. If possible, you want to have 2-3 bras that you can rotate so you can get the best wear out of them and ensure you are comfortable night and day.

2nd – 3rd Trimesters (4-9 months)

During the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, your band size (around rib cage) may continue to increase as your baby grows, and your boobs may continue to get bigger too. It is not uncommon to go up 2-3 bra band sizes during pregnancy, and several cup sizes….on the other hand, some women may only see minimal changes. It is hard to know how much you will change as even women who have had multiple pregnancies have found that their boobs reacted differently in each one!

As you near the end of your third trimester, it is time to consider moving into non-wired or nursing bras as your boobs will start preparing for milk production. A non-wired bra will be more comfortable and you won’t risk underwires digging into your breast tissue.

1 – 3 Weeks before due date

We recommend coming for a final prenatal fitting as close to your due date as possible. At this stage, we can get a good idea of what your bra size may be after delivery of your baby.

If you choose to breastfeed, your nursing bra needs to nice and snug in the band on the loosest eyes. This is because the area around your rib cage & diaphragm will get smaller after giving birth (back to ‘normal’) and you will also want to be able to tighten the band as the fabric starts to stretch during wash & wear. There also needs to be a decent amount of space in the cups (at least a fist) to accommodate breast pads and allowing for extra expansion when your milk comes in.

Breastfeeding

After the birth of your baby, you may notice that your breasts continue to change size as they adjust to milk production and it may take a few weeks for your breasts to ‘settle’.  It’s nice to have 2-3 bras for this stage, and you may need to wear them in bed for comfort & keeping breast pads in place.

Once you have finished breastfeeding, we recommend coming in for another fitting as you may find that you have changed from your pre-pregnancy bust size.

The team at Avokado are always on hand to answer any questions you may have about the fit of your bras. As with any physical change during your life, it’s important that your bras are comfy and well-fitting so you can focus on the important things like you and your baby!

Any questions, please feel free to leave one in the comments below, otherwise give us a call or drop us an email.

Michelle x