Nursing Bras 101

Breastfeeding a baby is as equally challenging as it is rewarding. I daresay it is more challenging for the woman who is well endowed. A full bust will become heavier when lactating because of all the milk those mammary glands have capacity to hold. To borrow my husbands famous line, "your breast is bigger than the baby's head". To help you feel great about your bustline in this time of transition, lets talk about the best nursing bras for the full bust.

These bras:

• are of course all soft cup bras with no wires.
  
• have an inner 'cookie' which is a ring of material going around the breast that is separate from the outside of the cup which drops down to feed the infant.
  
• drop from the top of the cup to feed the infant, no side openings.
  
• have seams.
  
• are made from a rigid fabric.
  

These bras give you the best shape under your clothes and the best support to increase your comfort. Big, heavy breasts need support, but I want you to feel and look good in your clothes as well. So much of one's body changes through pregnancy and childbirth, we need our bustline to be a source of confidence.

The industry standard is the Goddess 511. This is a full-figure bra, Goddess is a full-figure brand. That translates into a whole lot of bra, and the smallest band size is a 34. A woman who wears a 32 could take in the band of a 34 and make it work, but smaller than that and this bra will be too big in the back.

The next bra is the Norvell bra. Norvell touts itself as a 'custom fit' bra, meaning it has lots of funky sizes. Knowledgable sales people of this bra will guide you through selecting the right size. This bra as a 'shelf' that is under the breast to give it uplift. Also it is made of a rigid, yet soft lace. I have actually run in this bra, it is so supportive. Warning, at first it looks torpedo-ish, but it softens to a more natural shape. I have a 36J client who swears by this bra for the best 'lift and separate' action.

The last bra I endorse is not as long lasting as the top two. By that I mean when you first put it on it looks nice, but over the course of two to three hours as the milk re-fills the breast, the support of the bra fades and the bustline begins to sag, although it gives the most 'seam free' look of the above bras.

Several nursing bras are comfortable and are fine for wearing around the house (Freya, Bravado, Royce, Fancee Free). Recently I have seen a move among nursing lingerie to be "pretty and sexy, just like your pre-pregnancy bras". Are your lactating breasts just like your pre-pregnancy breasts? No, they need extra support, especially in lieu of underwires. These bras are pretty to the eyes, but do you feel confident in your clothes in those bras? One of my clients is pregnant with her sixth child (she is a size 34DD), she has certainly been a nursing mom for many months of her life. Her quote sums up the nursing bra situation for the woman with a full bust: "I am too vain to wear a nursing bra".

Below are nursing bras that we DON'T recommend to wear out of the house if you want to feel comfortable & confident!!