I was watching a baby story type of show the other day. Something that stuck out to me was this woman who had just delivered her daughter had her stomach wrap/bound by her midwife (sister). They made a point of saying on this episode that the family was from Ethiopia, and that stomach wrapping is practiced there and in many other places. Yet, it is controversial and considered unsafe here.
Anybody know anything about this? Why would this be dangerous? The extra support seems like a great idea to me. At 7 months pregnant, I don't go the day without my belly support band. It seems support after the baby is born seems like a great idea too.
Anything you know about this would be helpful!
Thanks
I.
Thank you for all your advice. You sent me in the direction I was leaning anyway. I went on line and got a belly bandit. It's packed in my hospital bag, that's in the back of my car; that I will hopefully get to be putting to good use anyday now!!
After I delivered via c-section, they gave me a band with velcro at the hospital to help my abdomen and belly muscles that get stretched out when you are pregnant. Worked great for me and provided the extra support I needed.
Hello I.,
I am the mother of four grown children; well they think so anyway ;-). My reasons were purely vain but after each birth I wrapped my stomach for two to three months without incident. I wanted to get back into my "street" clothes and get my figure back as quickly as possible. The wrap sort of forces you to hold in your tummy tightening the muscles back up. This in addition to breast feeding can help drop the baby weight fast.
Congrats on the new addition to your family and Happy Holidays.
CM
I'm not sure why it went out of favor or what it could hurt. My husband's grandmother said that many doctors used to wrap the belly after the pregnancy to get it all back into shape. She swears that going without the wrapping is why every woman who is a mom now has a pouchy belly. Would be interesting to find out more although it is too late for me!
I'm an L & D/postpartum nurse and haven't heard anything negative about them. In fact, I used them myself. I bought one at babies'r'us. I loved it. I felt better when I had something holding things back in place...especially the first week postpartum. Early congrats on baby#2. Good luck with your delivery
http://bellybandit.com. I read all about this place and saw them on Extra. This is something a lot of moms in Hollywood are doing and they all love it. I've never heard anything bad about it considering that the doctors want us to keep massaging our abdomen after birth to get our uterus back down. This is like an added help. I will totally be getting one during my next pregnancy. Hope this helps.
Hi, The nurses at CPMP wrapped my abdomen for me after my second delivery. They said it was perfectly fine. People have been doing it forever with no side effects. They sell binders and wraps. Just to be sure ask your ob-gyn.
I've heard of it and my family practices it as well. In fact, Brooke Burke, the actress that just won Dancing With The Stars swears by it and sells her own line of post-partum belly wraps online. My family just uses an ace bandage or really tight high-waist girdle but it helps your body release water and holds the skin in place so it has a better chance of going back in place. Plastic surgeons do the same thing for liposuction patients. Hope this helps.
Dear I.,
I don't know that belly binding is unsafe or controversial, but I do know that it's rarely done anymore. When I was pregnant with my first baby, my mother gave me the belly bands that she had used on me and my sister when we were infants. It was commonly done back then. I'm 46, today as a matter of fact, so that gives you an idea of how long ago mothers routinely did that. It's believed that it helps prevent babies from getting hernias around the area of their umbilical cord and prevents "outie" belly buttons. My sister and I, as well as all three of our children have very nice "innies". I don't even know if you can buy belly bands anymore. They were just bands of soft fabric that had ties, much like the premise of a wrap around skirt. You could easily make your own. Obviously, you wouldn't tie them so tight the baby is unfomfortable or can't breathe, but I can't see why they would be unsafe.
As I said, I don't know how controversial it really is other than it's just not done much anymore here.
Good luck with baby #2!
Whoops~! I guess I should have read this more carefully...you know...with age goes eyesight.
Wrapping the belly of the mother can give extra support for the muscles and is thought to help with the shrinking of the uterus and everything. A woman's spine gets so out of whack after carrying all that weight in the front that wrapping helps with the back muscles after delivery too.
I also saw that episode, and I did not bind my stomach, however I made sure that i had a wide waistband pair of maternity pants to help support my tummy on the way home and than after a few days, i started to wear a girdle to help my back support the front weight, as well as to help my stomach muscles go back to the way they were before.
Hope that helps
K.
Hi I.,
Wrapping your tummy or wearing a girdle was a common practice when my mom had me. She loved it and wonders why doctors don't still recommend it.
Sincerely,
L.
