Are you currently breastfeeding your baby, or will soon be starting breastfeeding? If so, make sure you read this. Have you considered using a nursing bra? If you don't use a nursing bra, or haven't at least thought about the idea, you really should. For a long time I used a normal bra until one of my girlfriends convinced me to experiment with a nursing bra, and I don't think I'll ever go back until I stop breastfeeding.
Throughout the last trimester of pregnancy, the female body begins to generate milk within the breasts for the newborn to feed on when it's born. As soon as the baby starts to breastfeed, some changes start to take place in the woman's breasts, and it is not unusual for the breasts to get engorged when the woman first begins to breast feed. This can be very debilitating, trust me; it takes place when the breast becomes full of milk, but it's not able to flow out. A nursing bra can help relieve this, and using a manual or electric breast pump can also help a lot. If you're going to go this route, be sure to read the best breast pump reviews before purchasing, as they can be very expensive and you'll want to purchase the right one.
It is commonly advised that a new mother breastfeed newborn babies for the first 2 years of life. Studies have shown that breastfeeding offers a variety of appreciable health benefits to both the baby as well as the mother. A mother's breast milk is certainly the best nutrition your baby can get when they're that age, until the point where they are able to eat soft foods. Unfortunately, breastfeeding can be an issue sometimes. For example, it's not always an easy task to be able to breastfeed your baby in public. This is often an awkward issue for first time mothers to handle, for apparent reasons. Fortunately, bra manufacturers have made some strides in creating bras that will let the mother to breastfeed in public places while keeping some privacy and avoiding embarrassment. Nursing bras are specially designed so that the nipple area is exposed for breastfeeding while, at the same time, supporting the breast. On top of that, nursing bras are commonly made out of a very stretchable material, which gives it the ability to adjust to the size of the breast before, during, and after breastfeeding. This will make it much more comfortable when compared with an ordinary bra.
Though bras are designed to support the breasts, they just are not comfy enough for a breastfeeding woman, nor to they give you satisfactory privacy for the woman to breastfeed in public areas. A nursing bra alleviates both these issues, allowing it to be much easier on the nursing mother. There are numerous nursing bras available to buy, and consideration is needed before purchasing one. Alternatively, a breast pump can be a big help in alleviating these problems. Since you can pump and store the breast milk for later use, it avoids the issue of breastfeeding a baby in public. As expected, breast pumps can be far more expensive than even the best nursing bra, so you'll have to decide depending on what's best for you and your budget. If you opt to go with this route, make sure to read breast pump reviews, because not all of them are created equal.