Are maternity bras or normal bras best to buy in pregnancy?

[bumbleumble]

My breasts have ballooned in size during my second trimester (I'm 17 weeks now) and none of my bras fit anymore.

I usually buy my bras from M&S as they measure you and size them
properly. I dislike an ill-fitting bra, and generally I'm quite tricky to fit due to odd proportions.

Should I be buying maternity bras now (I'm planning to breastfeed)? Where can I buy good quality maternity bras, as M&S don't stock them, and are there any shops that will measure you and check the sizing? Or should I buy normal bras during my pregnancy, and then maternity bras after giving birth, as maybe my breasts will increase in size again?

I have been wearing nursing bras since 25ish weeks. Larger m and s have a good selection. Before that I found one in there called a 'smoothing' bra which was not underwired but nice and supportive for my tender boobs.
No one can really predict how much your boobs will grow after milk comes in. I would try and get by on 1 new bra now then get fitted again in early third tri and use nursing bras hoping you will go back down to that size.
I've also bought a couple more nursing bras in a size bigger for after baby's born but kept the tags on so I can return them if wrong size.

I use M&S nursing bras, but no point buying til milk 'comes in' as my boobs went from A pre pregnancy to B during, then D when feeding
Currently 34 weeks with dc2 in normal bras (cheap primark ones!) then will get nursing ones once milk established. Have bought 1 Emma Jane soft nursing bra which was on offer in mothercare just for first few days with new baby.
HTH?

Oh and shd add my boobs have got bigger every month or so - used to. Be 34c and now 38dd! But a lot of that is ribs expanding which reduces once baby engages. Nursing bras are good as they have extra clips on the back to allow for this.

Regular bras (including underwired ones) are fine so long as the bra is well fitted.

Ok, first things first! I'm afraid that M&S do not "measure you and size them properly". They are absolutely awful at bra fitting (see the numerous bra threads for examples) and I can guarantee that if you've been 'fitted' there, you are wearing the wrong size.

Rant over

You are absolutely fine to wear normal bras all through pregnancy and that includes underwired bras. Are you near a Bravissimo or failing that a Debenhams or JL? If so, go and get re-fitted. This will be the only time that you should buy a bra that needs to be done up on the tightest hooks to allow for rib cage expansion.

You can also buy underwired nursing bras or convert normal bras.

During pregnancy and BFing, just make sure that the wires are not sitting on breast tissue.

Early on I went to a department store and she gave me a Doreen bra, very old fashioned now I have to say but helped with support etc, then I got a lovely red one in Debenhams for the days didn't want to feel like a granny and I was delighted with it.

You will have to change sizes a lot. I really loved the Debenhams one. Used it for nursing also. I also bought some soft cheap bras for nighttime and for during the hospital or while the good bras were drying.

There is no point at all trying to economise by having the same maternity and breastfeeding bras I am afraid. It is highly likely that you will be bigger in the cup and smaller in the back whilst breastfeeding than during pregnancy. Or at least one or the other.

Underwired bras are find in pregnancy as long as they fit and aren't pressing on breast tissue (or uncomfortable because they are being forced upwards by a high bump).

And yes, M&S are rubbish for bra fitting. They almost always have you in a large back and too small cup.

Ive never bothered with maternity bras with either dc, i find supportive sports bras just as good and alot cheaper. That way you can afford to buy a few in a few diff sizes/colours.
As for nursing bras i just got cheap supermarket ones which worked well and i found after the first couple of weeks i wasnt always wearing nursing bras anyway but just managing with normal bras.
I really couldnt justify splashing out fortunes on bras that were unlikely to be worn for very long.

sports bras. from primark and supermarkets. extra support extra comfort. extra cheap (and when your changing size every 2 weeks it really helps to be cheap)

I've just got back from a Bravissimo maternity bra fitting and it was great (apart from the not-huge range instore but you can always go online once you've got your size/s established).

Agree with everything Sorrel says. Only buy maternity tights from M&S - they do NOT know how to fit a bra properly. Go to Bravissimo or at a push a decent department store with a wide range bras for fuller-cupped (ie 99% of us) women.

You can wear wired bras all through your pregnancy (if you want to) and they will fit you for growth e.g. I am currently about a 30GG but got 32Gs and 32Hs for expansion.

You should probably avoid wearing wires during the early part of breast feeding - when your boob sizes are all over the place and quite tender but once they've settled down (I think this happens about 8-12 weeks IIRC) get fitted again. The fitter said to get fitted for BF bras (I hate the term 'nursing') around 36 weeks.

Oh and to answer your actual OP - normal bras are fine as long as they fit.

I agree with the people who suggested sports bras. I so wanted to stay in underwired bras during pregnancy and spent hundreds buying new bras every few weeks. Finally gave in and am now wearing a mix of sports bras and thin softcup bras which I layer up to give extra support. Plus the band stretches with rib cage.

After I've had th baby and boobs have settled on a size I will invest in underwired nursing bras.

Also what everyone else said about m&s being crap.

I'm going against the majority and saying I found m and s fine. In fact, the best, because they were the only place that do cotton bras, and I was even more obsessed than usual about avoiding synthetic material when pregnant/ bf.

But then I have had just about every size between 32c and 36c (pregnant) and 34e (early days bf) over the last 5 years

Agree that sports bras are good and very comfortable but I couldn't wear them to work / out when I want my tits to look nice and perky. They do create a monoboob effect.

Parliamo I can't comment on the cotton thing as that sounds fair enough to me but I'd put money on you not being any of those sizes

Thanks for all the advice.

I was going into M&S today anyway and so I asked for a bra measurement whilst I was there- they had a FIVE HOUR wait for an appointment to be measured! The assistant said I should have phoned up when the store opened that morning to book. Frustrating that it's harder to get an appointment at M&S than with my GP!

I'll try Debenhams instead, and check out sports bras. I'm tricky to fit as I have a small back and so I need straps that tighten all the way around- on most bras you can only tighten the shoulder strap half-way, and the other half of the strap is fixed length. If the strap tightens all the way around you can shorten them a lot more, so it's more supportive for me. Not sure if I'll find any sports bras that where I can shorten the straps enough, as previously I've struggled to find sports bras that aren't too long-strapped for me.

Yes, I agree I want to avoid buying expensive bras as I may well grow again- although at the moment I simply can't imagine my breasts being any bigger!

You may want to talk to a really good fitter from what you have said. The straps shouldn't be giving the support and shouldn't need to be very tight. That generally means that your chest size is far too big, as a correctly fitted bra gives most of the support from there.

Sorrel- as I've now got the whole golf ball in socks thing going on I'm just hoping for a sudden revival of 1920s flapper fashion and then I can just bandage them away in some sort of corset, only to be revealed in pitch black.

No need for any fittings then, m and s shit or otherwise!

Agree with Penguin. I'm small in the back (28 inch band size) and have no trouble with finding straps that will go tight enough. If you're usually buying from m&s then you must be wearing at least a 30?

Bumble - do try go to a bravissimo if you can. Your straps shouldn't offer much support at all - your boobs are held up by the band and the cups. Pre pregnancy I was a 32G and my boobs didn't move much if I slipped a strap off my shoulder!

I was refitted twice during pregnancy (at around 8 and 27 weeks) and the for nursing bras at 37 weeks. I was refitted for nursing bras after 2-3 weeks once my boobs had started to settle and I didn't look like Pamela Anderson any more

Listen to Sorrel up thread. She knows her stuff.

i've actually been very happy with the fitting and the bras i've had at m and s - guess it depends on the person.
was fitted at john lewis and they had a dreadful selection and tried to sell me a bra massively too big both in chest and cup 'because i would grow into it'.
a lot of people recommend bravissimo but they are so expensive - probably only worth it if you are very large and need a lot of support and well structured bra.
also, i've found underwired bras really uncomfortable recently so happy i had the non-wired ones. even if i don't use nursing bras afterwards, they were 2 for £20 and i have been able to increase the chest size as baby's grown (so when you try them on, keep them on the smallest setting).

Triumph Doreen is fab - very unsexy but fab!

I had to google the Triumph Doreen and, my heavens, you're not wrong! It looks like something my Grandma might have worn!

I got a lovely Calvin Klein t-shirt bra, it's underwired and smoothing which keeps my rack nicely where is should be. Pre-pregnancy I was in underwired balcony bras but the pressure doesn't feel so nice now and I keep 'spilling over' from anything apart a full-cup bra....