nursing bra

[pinkyp]

ok am almost 35 weeks now and due to be measure for a nursing bra, is there any good sites or does anyone know if you can do this yourself? I really havent go the enegery to go to mothercare for them to take ages measuring me then trying to pressure me to buy everything from there collection (last time the lady stood next to me all the time i was browsing).SOooo can this be done yourself?

I think on the mothercare site it may tell you how to measure yourself.

I've got some Cake lingerie from Mamma La rocca's site as they have a great online fitting guide. Fits lovely

I bought my nursing bras online from Cariwell (via the NCT site, I think). They are sized small, med, large, xl, each of which covers a range of "proper" bra sizes. So they're good if your size increases when your milk comes in and also because they are soft and stretchy measuring is not as important!

If you know you're in a well-ftting bra now (so know your current size) then the usual advice for a nursing bra is down one back size and up 1 or 2 cup sizes from your 36 week size. But it varies from person to person so I'd only get 1 or 2 now anyway as they may not fit.

ooohhhh don't go to mothercare!!!!
I don't know anyone who has been happy with a bra fitted by mothercare! (cue loads of posts to contradict that, I'm sure )

See if your local nct has a bra fitter. She will be able to measure you properly, allowing for milk coming in etc, and she'll probably have a good range of bras for you to choose from, if not, she'll be able to order in for you. Plus, 10% of the price will go to support your local nct!

oh, and I meant to say, often they will come to your house to measure you! (that's what we do for ours)

Don't do it yourself unless you really have to. Bras vary, a bit like shoes and clothes generally, a selection of bras in the same size will NOT fit the same.
If you can get to a John Lewis or Bravissimo I would recommend these stores over Mothercare but Mothercare will be better than doing it yourself.

Oh yes NCT would be good.

M&S do a two pack for £30, or maybe less I think. Very nice, not grannyish and they'll measure you.

M&S will measure but not much better than mothercare same goes for debenhams.
Sorry I fitted bras in John Lewis and saw some awful fits from these places, they may have improved their training lately and different stores will probably be better than others but I know the best reports I have heard go along with my experience as a fitter, that JL, Bravissimo and NCT are the best bets for you if they are possible.

I agree with stuffed, despite their reputation. M&S are not great, especially for nursing bras - they are not specially trained to deal with ursing or pregnant boobs!

I've had good experiences with House of Fraser, so they might be one to try. Debenhams measured me before I had DD and although the bras were fine at first, as soon as the milk came, I had to abandon them!

I waited til after my milk came in, had my mum measure me and then sent her down to M&S to pick up some of their 2 for £25 nursing bras. I went from a 34C at the end of pregnancy to a 34DD now.

whats nct? (sorry to sound thick) mothercare measured me for this maternity bra 38C and i've been spilling out from about a week after,luckly i've found some old larger bras from when i was larger to put me on

Not thick at all, Pinky!

NCT is the National Childbirth Trust.
Their website is here and you can find out lots on there. They have their catalogue and various phone numbers you can call to find your local people.

Definitely no hard sell as all the bra fitters are volunteers, so they don't make any money out of it themselves.

don't buy yrt,I bought at 37 weeks,dd3 born at 38 & bras nowhere near at day 5!

Ahem....
Please let me introduce myself!
Used to work for Bravissimo as a bra fitter, now work for Mothercare & do most of the fittings in our store. Including nursing mothers, mums to be, oh, and the occasional Grandma to be whose never had a proper fitting!

Best time to get measured for a nursing bra is 36 weeks +
Basically the later the better as your rib cage can expand still in the last few weeks of pregnancy.
Some women even wait until after having the baby when their milk has come in and they are happy feeding rather than spending on something they may not use and which is an estimated size.

1. Measure in inches the circumference under your boobs.
2. Your bra should fit TIGHTLY around and do up on the LOOSEST notch.

If you find it uncomfortable then go up a back size. But, generally, after the first few weeks of having the baby your rib cage measurement will decrease. So its best to go as tight as possible and wear a bra extender (available from NCT or good habadashery stores for approx £2) until your rib cage goes down. Else, you will end up with a bra which is too big for you in the back and which will ride up in the back and then not offer the correct support which you need.

1. The Cup.

There is no proper way of measuring this yourself without trying bras on. Even in mothercare the same size in different bras varies greatly. Basically you want a bra which is baggy in the cup on you. I normally advise just going up one cup size unless you've had one or more pregnancies already where you've increased massively (like myself who started off a 32F before DS, then went up to a 34K when feeding!! - dread to think what size I'll be this time round, already wearing a 36H!) You should be able to get your whole hand into the cup at this point. Its got to accommodate for engorgement & also for breast pads.

Hope this helps.
Any questions - please ask away. Or - if you live near me I'm 35 weeks gone too and more than happy to help you out!

BTW - Pookamoo
I've been thinking about volunteering to do bra fitting for NCT once I've had my baby.

Could you point me in the right direction?

& Also...sorry to thread hijack, but Pookamoo What do you do with your baby when you are doing fittings on people? Do you just take her/him along with you? (daft question I know!)

Nice to see Lizzombie has proved me wrong about bra fitters at mothercare (although you were trained at Bravissimo!)

My baby's almost 2 now, she either plays or looks at books, or she's at home asleep with DH (if people come to me in the evenings, I try to get them to come after she's gone to bed!)

If you email the nct s_cullen(at)nct.org.uk they will be able to tell you when they are running the next fitting workshop.

Thank you for that. Hadn't thought people would actively come to my house to be fitted. That would make much more sense.
Just to let you know all the women I've trained in my shop do it properly! (or face my wrath!)

OOOOh I didn't know NCT were volunteers, might look into that myself.
Didn't mean any offence when having a go at mothercare, just witnessed some awful fits from our local but I imagine having been trained at Bravissimo, your store has the benefit of your wisdom, and is all the better for it.

None taken!
It shocks me (sp??) everytime I have a woman in who has been badly fitted, or had a bad experience. It shouldn't happen.

Although, the same happens in M&S and Debenhams too. I think its just luck of the draw, and it depends who fits you. But we aren't all rubbish!

Also, the fitting guide which most people adhere too, IMO really doesn't work. No one woman conforms to a strict ration criteria of boob size so it doesn't make sense. And where you may be one size in one bra you can be another in a different style/shop/colour way.

(its a personal obsession of mine, can you tell?!) - stand back Trinny & Susannah!!

more questions here, sorry for hijacking!

i am currently a 36D at 36 weeks, bras still very comfy in middle hooks, so would i buy one or two in this size and see how i get on or still trail somewhere to get measured.

i had a look in mothercare in glasgow today and it didnt look like they done bra fittings, m+s seem expensive, i was measured by them for my current bras, but was quite pressured into buying.

do u need to be a paid up member of nct to get fitted?

cheers in advance....

I just went to a small branch of M&S to get my measurements - then said "oh what a shame you don't have many nursing/maternity bras" and went online and bought the ones I wanted based on that fitting! They sized me pretty accurately and they didn't really put much pressure on. I reckon it is better getting it done, cos my measuring myself I think would have come out differently - they can tell just by looking at you most of the time if they know what they're doing. Don't go to Debenhams though - they got me completely wrong - they said I was a 36A when I was actually a 38C! The bra she asked me to try on was clearly too tight on the back and the bust and I pointed this out but she seemed to think it fit perfectly!

once you know your size here's a brilliant shop to buy some really nice ones from and you can return them free if they don't fit right

nursingbra-shop.co.uk/

i got some nice ones from there cos all the others id found were frumpy!