Myleene’s Top Tips on Maternity Bras

Our bodies undergo huge changes during pregnancy – perhaps nowhere more so than our breasts. You may find that overnight, you suddenly have a cleavage to die for or that just a hug from a loved one causes unexpected tenderness!

While the experiences each woman goes through differ hugely, it’s fair to expect changes of some sort up until, and even after, your little one comes along. To help women with these changes, Marks & Spencer is launching an online support tool, the ‘maternity bras guide’, which will offer advice on body changes for every stage of pregnancy.

Before giving birth to daughter Hero Harper in March, the lovely Prima Baby columnist Myleene Klass caught up with M&S bra expert Julia Mercer and talked all things bodies, bras and babies.

Myleene said, “When you first find out that you’re pregnant, not only is it a really exciting time, it can also be a really scary and vulnerable time. But first and foremost, comfort is the key! I just completely forgot how much your body changes.”

Myleene asked Julia lots of maternity bra-related questions, some of which you may be pondering yourself as a mum-to-be. Read on for the answers…
On getting fitted…

Myleene: “Okay so you find out that you’re pregnant, what’s the first thing you should do when it comes to your underwear?”

Julia: “The most important thing is to go along and get bra fitted because if you’re in the wrong size bra and you’re pregnant as well, you’ve almost got into the wrong size anyway. I would always recommend you go after lunch because that’s when you will be your fullest.”

Myleene: And how many times should you get fitted within that pregnancy period?

Julia: “I think you should really say an average of three, within each trimester.”

Myleene: “Okay so the bottom line, as soon as you find out you’re pregnant, go and get your bra fitted!”

On wearing the wrong size bra…

Julia: “When you first become pregnant, the first thing you’re going to notice is actually the underband. The underband becomes very tight on the bra you’re wearing. You don’t really associate the two things to start with but, literally, the heart doubles in size.”

Myleene: “I just didn’t realise that! So what kind of damage can you do if you’re wearing the wrong size, especially if you’re pregnant?”

Julia: “Well, you’re contracting the ribcage more than it should be and you need your body to be able to grow!”

On the right style of bra…

Julia: “The very first thing is obviously to avoid wearing wires.”

Myleene: “I’m wearing a wire right now!”

Julia: “Yeah, as long as it’s for short term wear. I mean if you were going out for an evening and you had a really low solution bra on you could wear it.”

Myleene: “And you don’t recommend bra extenders?”

Julia: “No because if you extend the back of the bra the wires are going to naturally come into the front, aren’t they? Because they’ve got to go somewhere.”

Myleene: “So it’s better really to go get bra fitted and really look after your breasts during that period that you’re pregnant.”

On size changes…

Myleene: “On average, how big a change is there in a cup size?”

Julia: “On average, somebody who started off a 34B would go up two underband sizes, so they’d go up to 38 and then four cup sizes.”

Myleene: “That’s quite a lot isn’t it? Three days into having my daughter, they were just GInormous – they were big as my head!”

If you still have questions on maternity bras, visit the M&S Lingerie website where you can also watch Myleene and Julia discuss bra tips on video and read further information on the maternity bras on offer at M&S.