The Pros And Cons Of Wearing A Pregnancy Belly Band

Pregnancy belly bands are wraps of flexible garments that cover your abdomen and back to give you extra support while it becomes difficult for you to manage your daily chores especially if you are in your third trimester.

Many women prefer wearing a pregnancy belly band to help their bodies get back together faster as women complain of getting out of shape and feel like jello. Nonetheless, every product has its good and ugly side and that’s what we are going to be focusing on in this blog.

So let’s start unpacking.

1. The Pros Of Wearing A Pregnancy Belly Band

Since the back and joint pain are quite frequent during pregnancy, a lot of women go through frustration and depression owing to this. A study found out that 65% of pregnant women report pelvic pain and 71% complain of lower back pain. A belly wrap provides support to your back making it easy to perform your daily duties.

A belly band also keeps your body composed and compresses it potentially saving you from discomfort. However, you should not tighten up the band as it can serve harm to the uterus or abdomen. These bands also help in getting the right posture even after the pregnancy.

Apart from this, a belly wrap has following benefits too:

• Help prevent or reduce soreness in the abdominal wall
• Stabilizes your general mobility 

2. The Flip Side Of Belly Bands

According to a medical expert, the claims of belly wraps as substantial help to reduce the baby weight are highly inflated. He says women who believe to have lost weight after their pregnancies are mistaking it for the extra pregnancy fluids as real weight loss.

The fitness trainers and body wrap companies that proclaim their methods will help women control water retention are not medically proven. However, they can make you physically active consequently shedding some weight.

Another con of belly bands is, they can be pretty annoying as you constantly need to adjust them while you sit down or get up or go in any irregular movement. Pregnancy belly bands also poke out if you are wearing them under something tight. A study shows that women who opted for belly bands to control their waist ended up in disappointment.

Doctor Sherry A. Ross in her book ‘she-ology’ wrote that using tight shapewear is never a good idea as it compresses the body. It reduces your blood circulation, gives you discomfort pains, and heart burns. She showed her concern about waist trainers as they recommend wearing it tight but it causes squeezing of the ribs and internal organs.

Also, women who are going through C-section wounds or have any other complications should not opt for a belly wrap as well. However, if there’s one thing clear it is that you should always act as per the advice of your gynecologist before buying one and get recommendations on the most flexible one from experienced women around you.