AIBU about belly binding?

[sockonmyhead]

I have never done this and it strikes me as a bad and wrong idea, primarily designed to make women feel even crapper about post baby jelly bellies (or at least that is how it is commercially marketed).

There is an advert for an abdominal binder on another parenting forum at the moment. It made me feel very sad to see it,but I don't know if I am in the minority thinking it is the wrong message to send to new mums.

Has anyone done this? Is it even medically advised or beneficial?

In Mexico the nurses wrap you up right after giving birth. My friend had it done and she said it was good to have the extra support - all hearsay though, it'd be nice to see some research done on it...must admit I'm tempted though

I can understand the bit of string, it would obviously hurt if you let your tummy go wobbly. But would a corset have the same effect? Because it covers you whole middle I would have thought the effect would have been more to sqwish than to remind you to tense your muscles?

I have never worn one so I don't actually know, I wear my jelly belly with pride!

Hmmm, I read it several times hoping to get nicely offended while having my tea and a wispa. I'm afraid to say that even though I usually have a fairly low pc threshhold, this really doesn't offend at all. I'm quite disappointed.

Maybe it's because I'm almost seven months pregnant and loving the idea of anything that will squoosh me back down to normal size after birth. Pregnant women do think about regaining their shape, that's normal. These days my fantasies are about being able to get off the couch without doing my beetle on its back imitation.

I don't think that the ad is being particularly insensitive. My main problem is the untidy text, the spelling and grammar etc.

Otherwise, on my Christmas list!

What's wrong about wanting to have a flat stomach? Jelly belly is not de rigueur you know. I had healthy happy twins and few weeks after their birth I was back in my old jeans.
It takes about 6 weeks for the uterus to contract as my consultant told me, however, that has nothing to do with wobbly fat.
Too many people over eat while pregnant and then complain that they have to lose few stone postpartum.
The corset thingie could help the muscles to contract and acts as a support I suppose. What's wrong with that?

I actually am not overly offended my the product, it get the point of it (although am dubious of its effectiveness). What really irritated me was the advert for the product on a parenting forum. It's a place where you might go for advice and so an advert on their site sort of carries more weight. To me it's like saying that you should be wearing a corset and that it is not acceptable to be wobbly having just had a baby.

The link earlier is for the product, not the advert. It is the message rather than the product. The rubbish response from the site has also incensed me!

I wore a support band after the birth of both babies and really noticed when i took it off. it was a real support to my tummy muscles.

sorry that first sentance of my last post was nonsense!

nothing wrong with not wanting a jelly belly, but I think most new mums could do without extra pressure to get back in their old jeans, not all of us can.

as i've said, I was really annoyed with the marketing rather than the product.

I am delighted to have inspired you anniemac!

I remain unconvinced that a corset helps to strengthen your stomach muscles but if you do buy one, please report back six weeks post birth and tell us if you are back in your old jeans or if you've been sat on the sofa eating cake!

"I can understand the bit of string, it would obviously hurt if you let your tummy go wobbly. But would a corset have the same effect? Because it covers you whole middle I would have thought the effect would have been more to sqwish than to remind you to tense your muscles?"

I can't say my actual corset helps me tense my muscles, so not sure how anything restricive would. I do however like the support from it.

OK. Only just looked at link and see that it´s only recommended post c-section.

Perhaps that makes some sense to have support whilst things heal?

yes post c section or with seperated muscles or if your physio says to use it makes total sense. Wearing it two days after giving birth because you feel pressured to look skinny, not so good!

The advert was definatly more about the skinny bit, the c section bit was a 'also good for'.

How would you explain the excessive weight gain during pregnancy then?
Under active thyroid or a X medical condition set off by a pregnancy? Of course it happens but a vast majority of excess baby weight is due to excess calorie consumption during pregnancy.
I have used excess rather excessively here.....

I don't see that this exerts pressure to get back into the old jeans or suggests that it's unacceptable to be wobbly after pregnant.

It isn't saying "if you don't wear this beautiful beige binder, you'll be unattractive and no-one will talk to you". Rather, it just points out: psssst here's a little helper. I don't necessarily believe they work, but I'd never heard of them before and it's always good to know your options and form your own judgement.

I'd weep to get back into my old jeans after this pregnancy. Haven't worn them since before DS1. They're like an old friend that I haven't been able to visit for a very long time. That's not a response to any external pressure, it's not even a big deal. But it would be so nice.

rollmops, you are being rather harsh.

During pregnancy you gain weight and body fat, it's your bodies way of storing up energy for breastfeeding and the general rigours of looking after small kids.

Yes some of us might decide to have an extra cake or two as we are getting rather big anyway but I don't think most women set out to offend you by doing this.

I will also make a sweeping statement which I have no proof for, the vast majority of people who judge others about their weight gain in pregnancy are actually just lacking chocolate in their diet.

Practicalcat, it was the placemnet of an ad on a parenting forum for an abdominal binder that I felt made it wrong. I think in that context it has the potential to add to the pressure women already face about weight during pregnancy and post birth and create an idea that a flat stomach is the norm for new mums.

i have a japanese friend who did something like this. She wore a corset of some sort for the first few months after her babies were born. She flet good with it. She has since lent it out to other mums, some liked it, some did not. It was not tight, like a Victorian corset, she was able to move as freely as she liked.

I think I would have liked to wear somehting like that after having my babies. Partly because of my lower back trouble, but partly also because of the sheer discomfort of having an empty sack wobbling in front of you all the time.

And if it helps a mum's self-esteem to appear to regain her figure, without having to deny herself by dieting, what's so bad about that?

But I don't see where it talks about a flat stomach. It says "slimmer waistline" and "back to your shape" which is all relative. I wouldn't like something that promoted skinnyness in women who've just given birth, but this is more about regaining shape in that time of deswelling. Really don't see anything wrong with that. If anything, I look forward to it and think that's quite normal.

I think Julie Tupler (Tupler technique for flattening mummy tummies) recommends binding, but no need to buy expensive bits of postnatal lingereee, as far as I remember she recommended wrapping a piece of terry toweling around your middle. Now there's a nother book that has failed to make me thin by its mere presence on my bookshelf

I thought that it actually weakened muscles as they aren't being forced to work due to the support.

I don't understand the obsession with it being wrong to want to fit back in your jeans. So you've pushed out a baby, it doesn't mean all sense of style and self respect have to go with it.

Why should a woman feel ashamed for wanting her body back? It doesn't mean they don't care about their baby strangely most woman manage to think of more than one thing at a time.