Design and Features
The BellyBra is a bit like a sports bra but for your belly. It features a cross over back, stretch back panel and wide support band at the waist.
It is made of a nylon spandex mix and comes in black, white and beige, sizes XS to XXXL (up to size US 22).
Performance and Drawbacks
The stretch panel on the back of the BellyBra is quite tight and strong. It gently pulls back your shoulders to reduce the strain of your growing belly on your back and improve your posture.
The wide hip band is lower at the front to comfortably stretch over your belly. It is designed to take the pressure off your pelvis and redistribute the pregnancy weight to between your shoulders.
The rest of the BellyBra is made from a lightweight fabric that's about the same thickness as a spandex singlet or undies. It has quite good non-wire bust support so you can wear it with or without a bra and it’s comfortable to wear to bed.
It's primarily for use in the third trimester but you can wear it beforehand, especially if you are having twins. If there is an excess of fabric in the front you can tuck it into the waistband until you grow into it.
The most important thing about the BellyBra is that Australian clinical trials have shown that it is effective in providing back pain relief during pregnancy and a reduction in the use of pain relief medication. You can't get a better endorsement of its effectiveness than that.
Fertile Mind suggest you can wear the BellyBra as an outer garment and this would be very comfortable in summer but I'd say each to their own with this one, its a bit too underwear looking for me.
Conclusion
The BellyBra gets its rating of 10 because it's been clinically proven as being effective in providing back pain relief, it comes in a good range of sizes and colour options and is the only product of it's type available.
Approximately 50% of pregnant women experience back pain during pregnancy and most experience some sort of discomfort sleeping so any product that offers relief is worth it's weight in gold.
About BellyBra
The BellyBra was invented by a US mom and is now recommended by many pregnancy specialists for the relief of back pain and bad posture caused by pregnancy.
