Back in July, I received an email from my pregnant niece with “joining the club” in the subject line. Her first baby is due in January, but she wasn’t talking about the motherhood club. She was talking about my club. Here’s our email exchange:
Niece: I just wanted to tell you that since I’ve been pregnant, I’ve gone from a 34B to a 38C, and am continuing to grow! hahaha…I have experienced a few shirt gaps with my button ups already, so now I appreciate on a personal level what you’re designing. (-:
Me: This made my day. However, have you had a professional bra fitting? I find it hard to believe you would have gone from a 34 to a 38. That means you would have gained 4 inches in back fat*. I suspect you may have gone to a 34D. Very exciting.
Niece: Yeah, that may be the case. I just went to Ross and got a couple that seemed to fit. At least they fit way better than my others! And I think one of the things that happens in pregnancy is that your rib cage expands, so it may not be all back fat, but I could be wider…the 38 fits on the tightest clasp. So I don’t know…I’ll probably have to get a maternity/nursing bra next, and be willing to spend more since I’ll be in that for a while. (-:
As you know, I only have experience with large breasts, not large breasts while pregnant, so I wasn’t sure what advice to offer my niece. D cup bras are expensive, and my niece and her husband are poor graduate students. Then I found Brazen Lingerie. Despite its racy name (and you’ll love the Brazen Lingerie blog here), the events page hinted that Anina, the owner, may have a passion for pregnant and nursing mothers. So I contacted her for advice I could share here. Find it after the jump.
Anina’s Background
Yes, I have a real passion for pregnant and nursing mothers. I was always the flat-chested girl in school, but I went up to a 36G by the time my son was born. I’m now a 32D/34C, so the pregnancy gave me a little bit of boobs.
I love it when pregnant moms say, “Oh, my boobs are getting bigger. You have no idea!” I’m thinking, “Yeah? Really?! Don’t get me started on how boobs can change during pregnancy!” I just smile and tell them that it happens that way to some moms.
Sizes
Nearly every pregnant woman gets bigger boobs, but not always. I’ve had a number of customers who didn’t change at all. You wouldn’t know they were pregnant if you didn’t see their stomachs. On the other extreme, a pregnant woman can change up to FIVE bra sizes during pregnancy and then another 3-4 sizes while nursing. Don’t worry –this isn’t the typical experience.
It is unusual – but not impossible – that someone would go from a 34 to a 38 in her first trimester. It is more likely that your niece’s cup has increased and she is wearing a 38D because she is unable to find a 34 or 36 in a cup size larger than a D.
Strategy
When I was pregnant, I bought three new bras every time I changed a size. Of course, no salesperson ever told me that I would probably keep changing sizes and that I should try an extender instead. It may be necessary for your niece to buy a new bra every time she gets a little bigger, but an extender will help her to use it as long as she can.
No need to buy a nursing bra until about 7 1/2 or 8 months pregnant. The rate that cup size and ribs go up is not the same rate that they go down after the baby is born. No one wants to waste money on a bra that may never fit again.
When buying a first nursing bra, look for ones that are sized S, M, L, XL, etc., rather than by cup and band. Also, look for one that is stretchy in the cup. She won’t know how much she will grow when her milk comes in after the baby is born. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. Comfort is key–almost more than exact size.
Follow-Up
If you have any questions, Anina will be glad to answer them. I haven’t met Anina in person yet, but I’m looking forward to making a trip to visit her shop soon. I’ll let you know all about it when I do.
I’ll also be posting links to other helpful sources that I’ve found on this subject. But I wonder . . . for those of you who are or have been pregnant, do you find there is already enough information out there about bra shopping and clothing resources for pregnant and nursing women who are D cup and higher?
*I realize that “back fat” isn’t the correct term here! I now understand why it’s called the rib cage measurement.
As a 28G pre-pregnancy, I moved into a 34I at the height of pregnancy with my first child, and down to a 32H during nursing. I do, however, believe that my band size was probably smaller as the nursing bras never fit perfectly and my regular 28G band fit nice though the cups were a bit small. In my second pregnancy, I continued to wear my 32H nursing bras as I was still nursing my son, but they were definitely too small and my rib cage hurt by the end of the day!!
Bras in my size, without being pregnant, are incredibly expensive in my mind. Nursing bras in my size have been extremely difficult to find as most specialty shops catering to larger breasted women don't carry them, and they end up being even more expensive with all the shipping costs. And, no, I do not feel there's enough information on the fitting of large breasts during pregnancy and nursing. It is just as important for us to have proper fitting bras to avoid tissue trauma, but there just aren't the resources for us as there are for our smaller chested counterparts!
Thanks for this, Karen. I had this naive idea that once pregnant, large-breasted could suddenly fit all things maternity-related. Or that there were so many maternity-related forums and websites, that issues of fit would be addressed there. But it looks like it all comes down to proportion. If a woman has a narrow back and large breasts before pregnancy, she will have a narrow back but even larger breasts during pregnancy. So the same challenge in both states.
Thank you for this info, Aunt Dar! It'll help a lot. I'm definitely ready to shop again…the ones I bought when I had emailed you feel tight. I'll look into her advice, and maybe just get one or two now (since I'm about 6 months) and then start looking at maternity ones in a couple months. Thanks again! I was excited when I read your tweet about this post. (-:
And to answer your question…no! There is definitely not enough information about this for us. There should be a whole section on it in all the pregnancy books I've picked up, but there's nothing. Just a slight mention that 'your breast size may be increasing'.
Not nearly enough info! Bravissimo was a godsend, as was Creative woman in Monrovia CA. I went from a 34g (UK size) before my 1st to a 38H while pregnant, then within a week to a 36HH. After stopping nursing I stabilized at a 36G. Second pregnancy I went up to a 38 K (which was tight). Nursing, back down to a 36J, then with long term nursing I have stabilized at a 36H. My fav bras are Hotmilk — pretty and fully functional with great support — better than most non nursing bras. I have tried the goddess, elomi, and fancee free ones — bulletproof vests that don't work since I am not really big, just large busted if that makes sense. Freya and fantasie aren't too bad, neither is Royce. Emma Jane has a nice new one that I haven't tried yet, as does Panache.