A question about bras

[Southwestwhippet]

I am 30weeks pregnant. I have recently been having a very unpleasant pain in the upper middle of my back. Is especially bad when sitting in the car or lying on the sofa. According to the physio, it is a muscular pain possibly caused by tension. However, it occured to me the other day that the pain was located exactly under the 'back strap' of my bra.

So today as an experiment I did not wear a bra, just a tight fitting vest top (with about 4 layers on top!) I have not had the pain all day and am now sat comfortably on the sofa for the first time in weeks .

I am not uncomfortable without a bra, my boobs don't hurt and I don't feel 'unsupported'. I'm not very big anyway, have gone from a 32B to 34C. Do you think I would be ok to go without a bra as long as it feels comfortable? Or am I going to end up with horrid stretch marks or mastitis or something? I was remeasured at about 21 weeks and bought new bras but am I likely to have grown significantly between 21 and 30 weeks? thanks for any thoughts!

I had a stretchy sleep bra last time i was pg, something like that might give a little support?

It would be worth getting remeasured by somewhere that can actually fit a bra (if you can get there, Rigby and Peller are superb - M&S and Mothercare don't seem to do a very good job).

IIRC its recommended to wear a well fitted bra through pregnancy as the ligaments in your breasts can start to stretch and so make you more prone to the saggy boob look - correct support can mitigate the problem. But if a bra is causing you pain then it really is a case of deciding which is the lesser of the evils.

If it were me I'd get the fit double checked and take it from there

mothercare measured me completely different to john lewis i give up!

Best thing to do is to learn the basics of how a bra should fit and then you'll be able to spot major errors on the part of shop assistants that have inadequate training. Its also worth remembering that bra sizes aren't standard and so even if they measure you perfectly that measurement will only ever be a starting point towards finding a correctly fitting bra.

I was a 36D when my sister dragged be to R&P before I got married - and I left wearing a 32F and looking like I'd lost 1/2 stone! They have some online guidelines here (towards the bottom of the page) and if you look at their maternity advice there's a number you can ring for more help

(IIRC Bracissimo also have quite a good reputation for getting a good fit in a bra)

thanks girls, I'll have a look at the links and try and get remeasured somewhere over the weekend.

Don't fancy the sagging much but if I can avoid this back pain that would be great as it is really annoying.

Bras always make my back ache after a while - pregnant or not. As long as you feel comfortable, don't worry about sagging etc - that will come anyway (sorry, but it's the hormones!). I wear tight vest tops, sometimes with a 'hidden support' shelf underneath when bras are uncomfy and that works fine (even though my boobs are huge).