The 10 Best Pregnancy Support Bands
This wiki has been updated 35 times since it was first published in October of 2016. As you reach the second and third trimesters of your pregnancy, you may find that the extra weight you are carrying in the front causes poor posture and back pain, among other issues. The support bands on this list help distribute belly weight evenly to ease soreness, so you can enjoy this special time in your life rather than suffer from unnecessary physical discomfort. When users buy our independently chosen editorial choices, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
1. NeoTech Care Brace
2. Azmed Maternity Belt
3. Serola Belt
Editor's Notes
July 02, 2020:
Having the proper support throughout your pregnancy is paramount to keeping yourself comfortable and mobile, and pregnancy bands can help with everything from joint and lower back pain and improving posture and muscle strength to relieving soreness and minimizing pain from hernias, sciatica, and other issues. Many of the selections on our list also double as postpartum belly bands, helping to reposition organs and hold everything together in those weeks after birth.
Be aware, though, that using a belly band can create an overdependence if worn for too long. And if you have compromised circulation or abnormal blood pressure your doctor may advise against wearing one of these, so be sure to ask your physician before buying one.
Today we said goodbye to the DivaDio Relief, Gabrialla Medium Strength, and Babo Care. The first became unavailable, and we felt the latter two were inferior to the new models we wanted to bring on, like the Serola Belt. This unit is made for both men and women and uses a patented design to compress and support sacroiliac joints, making it a boon for pregnant women as well as anyone experience soreness and pain in that targeted area. We also decided to swap the old Cabea model for the Cabea Baby Belly, a version that comes with additional straps to provide compression therapy to the groin.
When updating this list, we noticed there weren't a ton of selections that offered complete coverage or provided a light lift without straps and hook and loop closures, and so we added the Ingrid & Isabel Bellaband, Belevation Pettipant, and M Like Mama Maternity to balance things out. The Pettipant acts as shapewear to help smooth your silhouette beneath dresses and skirts while providing support, while the M Like Mama and Bellaband each allow you to wear your jeans longer than usual before turning to maternity pants while simultaneously adding compression and support to your belly and lower back.
Special Honors
The Baby Belly Pelvic Support Created by a physiotherapist, this patented design sports numerous adjustable straps that allow you to customize the fit and provide relief where you happen to need it, which is helpful as your pregnancy progresses. It offers support in the front, back, and sides of your body, and is outfitted with a clothing protector over its Velcro to prevent your clothes from snagging on it. babybellypelvicsupport.com
4. Ingrid & Isabel Bellaband
5. DonnaElite Secure
6. Belevation Pettipant
7. M Like Mama Maternity
8. Cabea Baby Belly
9. Belly Bandit Upsie
10. Bracoo MS61
The Types Of Pain Support Bands Can Reduce
Belly bands can re-distribute weight, which balances out the pressure across your spine.
Growing a human puts a lot of pressure on a woman, both mentally and physically. Even though we've been doing it since the beginning of humankind, our bodies still struggle to adjust to carrying that much weight in one place. As a result, other areas of our body experience strain and can wind up in a bit of agony. There are a handful of pain types that pregnant women particularly complain about, which support bands can help alleviate. Seventy-one percent of pregnant women report experiencing lower back pain. That's no surprise since that region of your body does most of the work to maintain posture when you have a big bump in the front. Belly bands can re-distribute weight, which balances out the pressure across your spine.
Another major discomfort pregnant women can face is sacroiliac joint pain. They experience this as sharp, shooting sensations in the hips and pelvic region. Certain pregnancy-related hormonal fluctuations cause the ligaments in these areas to relax, which in turn makes them weaker and more prone to problems. Support bands can help re-align these areas, stabilizing the joint, and putting a stop to the torment.
In the second trimester, women can often fall victim to something called round ligament pain. The excess weight on the ligaments holding up the expanding uterus can leave expecting ladies aching. Belly bands may help to reduce this pressure. Finally, 65 percent of women report pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. The pelvic girdle is a ring of bones that sit at the base of the spine, and any upset to them can lead to limited mobility and tends to interfere with one's center of gravity. Pregnancy support bands are effective at treating all of these ailments, allowing moms-to-be to just enjoy the miracles in their wombs rather than resent them.
Other Surprising Benefits Of Belly Bands
Pregnancy support bands do more than just relieve pain. They can also help expecting women feel more stable doing various exercises, which is very valuable since working out can decrease maternal hypertension and even fight depression during pregnancy. It's only natural that a woman might feel insecure about doing any major movements with a baby growing inside of her. Mothers-to-be report feeling more confident doing yoga and going for power walks while sporting one of these bands. You wouldn't jog without a sports bra, and if you have a baby growing in your tummy, you shouldn't break a sweat without a pregnancy band.
The mere presence of the band also helps women be more aware of their posture.
The mere presence of the band also helps women be more aware of their posture. We're all prone to slouching while working at our desks, reading at a table, or even just walking around texting on our phones. Expecting mothers are especially susceptible to bad posture — particularly what is known as swayback — because their spine has an instinct to curve forward, following the belly. Wearing the band offers a good reminder to be conscious of that issue. In addition to altered posture, there is one more aesthetic change women worry about after giving birth: the dreaded stretch marks. Some moms say that wearing belly bands throughout and after pregnancy actually reduced the appearance of these lines. While they are war scars from a beautiful process, most ladies wouldn't mind minimizing them.
Pregnancy and childbirth are experiences that stay with a mother for a long time. In fact, research has found that they can alter a woman's brain for years. They can also leave her body feeling out of sorts, as many new mothers report a decrease in core strength for months after delivery. Pregnancy support bands can also be used after the newborn has arrived, helping the wearer's ligaments and abdominal muscles heal properly. It's easy to see how no shower gift basket is really complete without one of these items.
Other Accessories That Improve Pregnancy
We should really give trophies and lifetime supplies of foot rubs to mothers; they put their bodies through a lot to produce little ones. One struggle any woman who is, or has been, pregnant knows about is the fight for a good night's rest. As the tummy swells, it becomes harder for a woman to find a comfortable sleeping position. That's not only a nuisance, but also a hazard, since poor sleep during pregnancy can lead to birth-related complications. A body pillow can help a pregnant woman find a suitable position and drift off easily.
With the right accessories, pregnancy can be a bit more pleasant.
A woman's body starts to prepare for childcare long before the baby arrives, which is why pregnant women often find their nipples leaking before there is even a newborn to drink from them. Breast pads can make a world of a difference in this area. They absorb liquids, so moms don't need to worry about staining their favorite maternity tops, or having embarrassing incidents of wet chests in public. While a lot of focus can be on the stomach and breasts, let's not forget about one other area that suffers during pregnancy: the feet. An expecting mom will love an acupressure mat, as I can promise you her tootsies are screaming at her during this time.
Both the physical and emotional wellness of an expecting woman should be tended to, making pregnancy journals another valuable item during this special time. Many have helpful tips for carrying out a happy, healthy pregnancy, while offering blank pages for women to write down their experiences and thoughts. They can also help moms track their habits, from sleeping to eating, to help their doctors better evaluate their health. With the right accessories, pregnancy can be a bit more pleasant. Although, any mother will tell you it's never a walk in the park.
Born in Arizona, Gia is a writer and autodidact who fled the heat of the desert for California, where she enjoys drinking beer, overanalyzing the minutiae of life, and channeling Rick Steves. After arriving in Los Angeles a decade ago, she quickly nabbed a copywriting job at a major clothing company and derived years of editing and proofreading experience from her tenure there, all while sharpening her skills further with myriad freelance projects. In her spare time, she teaches herself French and Italian, has earned an ESL teaching certificate, traveled extensively throughout Europe and the United States, and unashamedly devours television shows and books. The result of these pursuits is expertise in fashion, travel, beauty, literature, textbooks, and pop culture, in addition to whatever obsession consumes her next.