Buying a Maternity Bra

For many a mom-to-be, the moment of truth comes at about 16 weeks. That's when your breasts, in preparation for their feeding duties, begin to outgrow your carefully-chosen fashion bras. Lingerie is an intimate item and having the rules rewritten for pregnancy is no fun. But experts agree that when your sleek and sexy undergarments no longer contain their charges, it's time for a maternity bra.

Specially-constructed and often fitted and sold by trained experts, a maternity and nursing bra affords a level of support that average lingerie just can't match. "Too many women look at the price points of a maternity or nursing bra and think, well, I don't really need this. I'll just go and buy a bigger size of my regular bra for $7.99," says Robin Polack, senior vice president of Leading Lady, a manufacturer of lingerie for moms-to-be and new moms. "But when you start coming out of your bra and you find you're adjusting the straps 30 times a day, you start to realize the importance of a specially-designed bra."

But much of what you know from years of buying fashion bras really doesn't apply to the maternity market. So here are some tips from the experts on how to buy and fit a maternity bra.