Hot Mammae
New to the UK, Mammae claims its nursing bras combine both prettiness and practicality with its patent-pending ‘eye-opening’ feature. But does it live up to the hype? We asked breastfeeding mama Julia Gardner to test it out…
I have to be honest, I’m a typical woman because when I opened the packaging my initial response was ‘oooh pretty!’ Let’s face it; most nursing bras available in the UK aren’t the most stylish of undergarments. I got the Mammae bra in ‘Purple Promise’ and it’s beautifully designed in terms of aesthetics, with lovely details such as lace straps and small sheer panels in the sides edged with frills. That might sounds a bit OTT but it works – check out the photo and you’ll see what I mean. When the bra is on you have a small part of the patterned inner cup sitting outside of the padded outer cup, and it gives a really pretty effect.
The bra is fairly comfortable. Generally, I do have an issue with bras with inner cups, as I find they dig in a little. Perhaps it’s just my shape or maybe I’m not getting the correct fit – I know many women don’t have this same problem so make sure you get measured properly. The fabric on the inside is a really fine mesh and a smooth silky fabric, so it was comfortable against the skin. It was quite a joy to wear an underwired bra again after a long time not wearing one! This means you get fantastic support, along with the inner cup also giving extra support. The straps are wide enough to be supportive, but not so wide that it is obvious you are wearing a nursing bra. There is also an added bonus of four absorbent washable breast pads in a coordinating fabric, which fit easily and securely into a small mesh pouch in the outer cup. Very clever. No more sticking papery pads into your bra, hoping that they won’t fall out! I can’t tell you how absorbent they are as I’ve never had leakage to deal with.
I found the middle clasps quite tricky to master, mainly because I’m used to bras that fasten on the straps. I found it more difficult to be discreet because you have to fiddle with a clasp a lot lower down. It was also quite a challenge trying to stuff your boob back in to a bra and then do up the clasp, all whilst holding a wriggly baby! With strap fastening bras you can pull the cup up and leave it there until you get a quick moment to fasten it without having to delve into your cleavage to do so!! If you get the hang of it however, I can see it being much more discreet than the drop-down cup style, where you seem to have to flop your whole breast out!
My biggest problem with the Mammae nursing bra is the cost. I just don’t think I could bring myself to spend £70 on one bra, no matter how gorgeous it is! I would recommend it (if you can justify the cost!), but probably not until your milk supply has settled, and not if you are the type of woman whose milk supply largely fluctuates through the day (because there isn’t enough stretch in the outer cup and of course the underwiring to deal with regular variations in breast size). It is a thing of beauty though!
The Mammae breastfeeding bra costs £69.95 – for details of where to buy, visit the Mammae website.
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