Predicting Your Nursing Bra Size - A Guide for First Time Moms
First-time moms have a lot to deal with as they prepare to receive their new bundles of joy and after delivery. Furniture needs to be moved. Nursery rooms have to be stocked with an array of items ranging from crib to nightlight. Oh!.. and what about that college fund! Besides, many of our boss mommas want to be ahead of the curve and get their nursing bras inventory stocked up as well.
However, new moms often find themselves confused by their changing bodies throughout pregnancy, lost in a dilemma to predict their respective perfect nursing bra sizes. Are you in such confusion? Don’t worry. Here’s some guidance.
Word of Caution: Everything is changing
As you adjust your budget to factor in the needs of the expected little one and stock your house with the necessary items, your body also changes day by day to accommodate the new attached life safely. Besides experiencing a significant weight gain and some weird cravings, your breasts will look and feel very different from how they were before the pregnancy. They might be itchy as a result of skin stretching as they grow.
And they will begin to grow from approximately the sixth, seventh or eighth week of your pregnancy and continue getting bigger up to the time you’ll deliver or start to breastfeed.
Most first time mothers experience a breast growth of one cup size or two by the time they are starting to nurse their babies. For that reason, with time during pregnancy, your regular bras will be too small to hold your grown breasts.
It is recommended to purchase your size at around 8 months into your pregnancy as this will be approximately the same cup size 4+ weeks postpartum.
Measuring Fit: Step by Step Process
1) Get your band measurement
Use a measuring tape to measure tightly and evenly around the bottom band of the bra, directly under your breasts. If the number is even, add 4. If the number is odd, add 5. That’s your band size.
Example: Bottom band measurement is 30 inches. Add 4 (as it is an even number), and you will get a band size of 34.
2) Establish your cup size
Wrap the measuring tape around your breasts at the fullest part (which should be nipple level). Record the measurement and round it off to the nearest full number if it isn’t.
Then, subtract your band size figure from the value you got here. The difference is your cup size. Each inch difference is a cup size. E.g. 1 inch difference is an A cup, 2 inch difference is a B cup, and so forth.
Example: Measurement of breast size at the fullest part is 37 inches. 37 subtract 34 (band size) equals 3, and you will have a cup size of C. Final suggested bra size would be 34C.
What to Expect
Measurements are just starting point and your actual bra size may vary from these measurements. It is recommended to visit a boutique or shop that can help you get professionally measured and fitted.