Go read the Disclaimer again. I am not a doctor. This is not medical advice. Seriously.
Virtually every pregnancy and breastfeeding guide will note that you need new or different bras when pregnant or breastfeeding, partly because you are unlikely to remain the same size while pregnant as pre-pregnancy, and breastfeeding will cause even further changes, and then weaning still more. The books often suggest that you can get by with a couple of bras, and that you can find them cheap if you shop. This might work for you. It did not work for me.
It did not help that I started out with a larger than average cup size. Pregnancy resulted in going up on the band size (which went back down a few months post partum) and cup size. The cup size went up post-partum in two separate stages: during the first week, and then about three months later, around Thanksgiving. (According to most guidebooks and retailers of nursing bras, this does not happen. Makes me wonder about how much I trust anything else they say.) Since I was trying to exercise both while pregnant, and after two months post-partum, I needed a bra, at least while jogging and while training in martial arts.
Bras or other clothing that compress the breast can make you profoundly uncomfortable and might decrease your milk supply or even contribute to an infection like mastitis. Even cotton bras will hold moisture at the nipple, and may contribute to soreness and cracking. Nipples will heal best from any problems that might arise if they get a lot of air and at least a little light.
General Discussion of Plugged Ducts and Mastitis
Underwire and "poorly fitted" bras are condemned, but it's hard to imagine what a correctly fitted bra is for a nursing woman, whose cup size might vary by a cup size or more in a matter of two or three hours. Oprah and other shows really like to plug Nordstrom's intimate apparel department as a great place to be fitted for a bra, but they suffer from the limitations of what is being manufactured, which is to say once you get past F or G in cup size, selection is very limited. While some employees in that department may understand how to fit a nursing woman, they do not all.
Don't feel like you have to wear a bra if you never have before, or if you feel more comfortable now not wearing one, subject to constraints like you have to because your workplace has a dress code that requires foundational undergarments. A lot of back pain, even in large breasted women, comes from bras that either don't fit, or are not designed to distribute weight appropriately for you. Ignore the people who tell you that will make you sag. Aging makes you sag. Going braless gives your tissues a chance to work and, to the degree that anything makes a difference, will likely mean you sag less when you are older.
Bras have two components to their size: the band (an even number) and the cup (a letter or letters). The band measurement is circumference of the torso. It is measured around the woman just below her breasts or just above her breasts. Sometimes, a number (either three or five) is added to the measurement. If it is not an even number, it is rounded up to the next even number.
The cup size represents the difference in size between the measurement around the woman at the nipple, or the fullest part of the breast, while she is wearing a properly fitted bra, and the band size. A difference of an inch is an A cup; 2 inches is a B and so through D. After D, manufacturer variance increases. Sometimes the next size is DD, and then DDD. Sometimes it is E, then F, and so on through the alphabet.
The straps over the shoulder (if present) have an adjustment to allow for the variable distance between shoulder and breast. Variation in shape of breast (long and skinny vs. short and wide, for example) is not handled, other than variation between manufacturer and style within a brand.
One of the strategies for finding bras that fit when one's cup size is unusually large is to exploit the fact that you can trade inches on the band with letters on the cup. So, for example, a 36DD and a 38D may both fit a particular woman. This starts to fail in one direction, when the band no longer encircles the woman and closes, and in the other direction when the shoulder straps are carrying the full weight of the breasts as the band is too loose to distribute weight to. This is essentially the rationale behind adding inches to the band size before figuring out the cup size; it is also why there are several rows of closures on the backs of many bras.
Because of the above, bras that sort of fit via compression of the breast into the manufacturer's shape (via underwire, elastic and so forth), will no longer be acceptable after lacatation begins because of the above mentioned risk of plugged ducts and mastitis. Also, women who were having trouble finding bras prior to pregnancy due to their size (DD or E and above, especially) will find they have tremendous difficulty if they increase substantially during and after pregnancy.
I eventually returned to Decent Exposures. They are available in arbitrarily large sizes, and you can order shorter or longer straps as well. High fashion they are not, but they will enable you to get some exercise without bouncing all over the place. They make nursing bras and swimwear as well.
Some comments on nursing clothing.
Copyright 2006 by Rebecca Allen.
Created January 27, 2006 Updated February 6, 2006