How to Find the Perfect Maternity Bra

At the latter part of my first trimester, I already noticed my need to get a better fitting brassiere. 

Honestly, I cannot find any guide on the internet that answered all my questions or a website that pointed me to the exact information I needed. I even searched for information from pregnancy forums online.

To help new moms out there, I decided to create a post about the most useful (well, for me) maternity/nursing-bra-finding tips. 





Here were the best tips I found online and tidbits from my personal visits to the maternity section in department stores and specialty maternity shops. 

Tips from Babycenter

One of the websites and apps I truly appreciate when I became pregnant is the Babycenter app and website. 

If you're a new mom, I suggest you download this to be able to anticipate your pregnancy needs and even watch videos about your growing baby.

Their page offered many tips but I posted here those that needed to be emphasized:

• The cups should lay seamlessly on your chest and have no bumps or wrinkles.

From babycenter.com

• The rib band of the bra should be on or below your shoulder blades and should not shift when you raise your arms over your head.

From babycenter.com

From babycenter.com

To read the full Babycenter article, please click here. 

My Personal Search

Aside from scouring online sources, I decided to visit department stores and specialty stores in search of the perfect bra. 

I went to Ayala Mall Trinoma in Quezon City and specifically visited Pois Belly and Kids, Gingersnaps, Mothercare, and the department store. 

In Mothercare, I found that they have a set of Maternity bras that are being sold at 2 pieces for Php 2,400. 

Since I was looking for cheaper alternatives, I also hopped to the department store to check what they can offer me. At the time of my visit, the only 2 brands that had maternity bras were So-En and Sogo so I tried those.

Nursing bras from So-En

Sogo also sells nursing bras for approximately Php 350.

One important tip I learned when looking for bras was that I actually had to go to the stores to FIT them. I used to do estimation when I sized my bras before and it worked then... but it's very different when I got pregnant. I really had to be there and FIT each and every single one of them. 

A tip I learned online is that as early as the middle of the second trimester, moms can already buy nursing bras. Many moms who have done this said that it was cheaper for them and allowed them to find the perfect nursing bra upon the arrival of their baby. 

Because of this, I decided to buy a nursing bra as early as 22 weeks into my pregnancy.

I bought 2 nursing bras from So-En and Sogo. The So-En bra costs Php 299.75 while the Sogo bra costs around Php 350. The Sogo bra also came in only 1 color - beige while So-En came in 3 colors:

Nursing bra colors available from So-En.

Here is a comparison of the 2 products:

                   SO-EN                                                                                 SOGO

For the packaging, So-En came with a ziplock bag while Sogo just came in the regular no fuss clear plastic bag, which I threw out before even having had the chance to take a picture of it.

Here is the difference of their nipple holes for breastfeeding. The So-En bra has a wider hole while the Sogo bra has a smaller breastfeeding hole. 

For the clasp, they almost look the same but the So-En clasp is easier to manipulate, clasps faster, and has a louder clicking sound than the Sogo bra. Personally, I liked the So-En clasp better.

Lastly, here is a picture of the back clasps. So-En only had 2 levels of depth with 2 clasps each while Sogo had 3 levels of depth and had 3 clasps each. 

Personally, it was easier manipulating the back clasp of the So-En bra but I feel like I was given more support by the Sogo bra. 

However, mothers online have advised to choose a bra that you can easily manipulate, more comfortable, and can be removed faster especially when breastfeeding.

So those are my tips and I hope they will be able to help you in your search for your perfect affordable maternity bra. 

I still believe that our bodies and preferences are unique so just go ahead and look for the perfect maternity/nursing bra that is best for you. As for now, I think I'm good with these two.

God bless your pregnancy!!!

With love,

Jacq

PS: If you have more tips and notable brands that you would personally recommend, please don't hesitate to write me in the comments section! xoxo