Boobs and bras

Confused about maternity lingerie? Khali Whatley, our good friend at Ma Mere is on board to give you some advice and the chance to get a free copy of her guide to choosing the right undies.

By the way, have you entered the caption contest to win a free maternity set?

The importance of a good maternity and nursing bra

There’s so much to consider when you first fall pregnant that the last thing on your mind is your underwear. However most new mothers don’t realise that wearing a bra with an incorrect fit or support system can cause complications during the later parts of pregnancy and into the nursing period. Therefore the beginning of your pregnancy is an important time to make sure that you have the right bra.

During your first trimester a network of lymph glands and milk ducts will start to develop in your breasts and a well-fitted maternity bra can make sure this happens correctly. Its important to be aware that bra underwires can affect the development of these ducts and glands inhibiting circulation, causing discomfort and even leading to infection. Maternity and nursing bras don’t have underwires for this very reason.

So what’s the difference between a maternity and nursing bra?

When it comes to features, they are basically the same. The primary difference is that a nursing bra has clips that allow breastfeeding. If you buy a nursing bra at the beginning of your pregnancy thinking it will last you until after you finish breastfeeding you will probably be disappointed.

Most women’s breasts increase in size during pregnancy and increase again after their baby is born and mature milk is produced. Their ribcage also expands as their baby and belly grows larger and retracts again once the baby is born. These changes affect both the cup and band size – and therefore the bra that should be worn.

The lack of natural muscle support in the breast increases the chance of sagging or changes to the breast shape at this time, so the right bra can provide the necessary support to maintain your breast shape.

With all of this in mind, you should be prepared to purchase several different bra sizes during and after pregnancy. You’ll probably buy fewer maternity and nursing bras than regular bras, which means they will be washed more frequently and therefore stretch and wear out faster. Hand washing and line drying (in spite of care instructions to machine wash) will prolong their life and make sure you get the support you need.

Would you like more information? Send Khali an email for a free copy of her Guide to Maternity Lingerie: khali.whatley[at]mamere.com.au

Breast is not always best

I can feel a controversy brewing.

Joan Wolf, an American academic, examines the medical studies on breastfeeding in painstaking detail in her forthcoming book.

Her conclusion?

“The evidence to date suggests it probably doesn’t make much difference if you breastfeed.”

And the many of the world's leading experts agree. While breastfeeding is beneficial for babies, some of its benefits have apparently been 'oversold' to new mothers. Wolf, herself a mother and one that did breastfeed her babies, says she was shocked by the information that she found. One of the major problems she says is that it is very hard to separate the benefits of the mother’s milk from the benefits of the kind of mother who chooses to breastfeed. In the UK, for example, the highest class of women are 60 per cent more likely to breastfeed than the lowest, so it is not surprising that research shows that breastfed infants display all the health and educational benefits they were born into. In effect, breastfeeding studies could simply be showing what it’s like to grow up in a family that makes an effort to be healthy and responsible, as opposed to anything positive in breast milk.

Michael Kramer, professor of paediatrics at McGill University, Montreal agrees. He has advised the World Health Organisation, Unicef and the esteemed scientific body, the Cochrane Library, and been conducting research into the health effects of breastfeeding since 1978. “The public health breastfeeding promotion information is way out of date,” Kramer says. The trouble is, he said, that the breastfeeding lobby is at war with the formula milk industry, and “neither side is being very scientific ... when it becomes a crusade, people are not very rational.”

Thoughts?

A story of (breast)milk

Fantastic article by Jill Lepore this week in The New Yorker about the history of breastfeeding and how it has come to pass that more American women are pumping their milk:

"Pumping is no fun—whether it’s more boring or more lonesome I find hard to say—but it has recently become so common that even some women who are home with their babies all day long express their milk and feed it in a bottle. Behind closed doors, the nation begins to look like a giant human dairy farm."

Check it out: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/19/090119fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=1

How many of you out there pump? Does your workplace have a room for expressing or nursing?