How to choose a nursing bra

The opening decides whether you will actually wear it

There are two builds: a clip on the strap, or buttons and hooks at the front. The clip is less visible under clothes; the front opening is faster once the baby is already in your arms. Either way it has to work with one hand: try it before you cut the tags off.

Underwire: not in the first months

An underwire sits on the line the milk ducts run along. While the breast fills and empties several times a day, pressure at that point is the most common avoidable cause of a blocked duct. A wide underband supports just as well.

Size: the cup moves, the band does not

In the first weeks the cup can shift by two sizes while the band barely changes. That is why well-made nursing bras are cut on the band and give in the cup. Buy the band right, not the cup.

Material: it is against your skin twenty-four hours a day

A nursing bra is not taken off at night and is often damp. Cotton absorbs it and dries in the air; polyester holds the moisture against the skin. With cracked nipples that is the difference between healing and not healing.