Are underwired bras really that bad?

[birdofthenorth]

Hi all

I'm just over 8 weeks pregnant and already my boobs are swelling and I'm struggling to fit into my normal bras.

Thinking of buying some new ones (maternity ones?) but wanted to hear the MN view on whether underwiring is really a no-no? I'm quite big (36D before the swelling!) and haven't gone without underwiring since I was a teenager!

I hope to breast feed so obviously don't want to damage my milk ducts but I'd be a bit nervous about being properly supported without an under-wired bra!

What are you all doing?

Thanks!

I wore underwires all through my last pregnancy and had no problems. My boobs are too big to be in non-underwired, they really need the support. I went on to BF for 9 months btw with no problems at all, in fact only stopped when I got pg again.
I just made sure to regularly get measured and fitted. My only problem was that M&S would not sell me an underwired bra once they had measured me and they knew I was pregnant and the bra was for me - they actually refused me at the till.
I got round this by being measured in one branch to get my new size and going to another branch to try on and buy bra - utterly ridiculous but better than enormous boobies in a bra with no hope of supporting them!

Chuck the book. Make it up as you go along.

RE M&S not selling underwired:
When I used to fit for John Lewis we wouldn't refuse to sell underwired but would strongly advise against it and wouldn't put our names on the receipt (we had to put our names on to guarantee the fit so if there were any problems it could be traced back to a particular fitter.) This was store policy as wearing underwired during pregnancy went against our training and nobody wants to get blamed for future problems.
If somewhere refuses to sell you something (particularly a dept store) just go to another till. It's your money after all.

I'd never heard of underwires causing problems with breastfeeding; have been wearing underwired this whole pregnancy (32 weeks now), same bras as I was used to but in bigger size. Should I switch to non-wired? I don't find the underwires cause me any discomfort yet, but obviously don't want to cause bf problems..