Emma-Jane Maternity launches pretty new nursing bra

At Emma-Jane Maternity, we understand that while support and comfort are essential when breastfeeding, women still want to feel feminine.  So we've added to our existing range with the launch of the pretty 429 style. 

The 429 bra is black with delicate white lace flowers over the cups, which are lined with 100% cotton fabric.  It is available in sizes UK 32-38 B-G and retails at £25.00.

Two layers of fabric and straps with restricted stretch provide additional support for larger sizes.

As with all Emma-Jane nursing bras, each cup has a clip that allows for quick and easy access to breastfeeding, and opens up individually, so when one is open, the other continues to give support.  Four rows of back eyes allow the bra to grow as a woman’s shape changes during pregnancy, and it can also be used with bra extenders.

Emma-Jane designer Freda Scholey said, “As we go into the Christmas party season breastfeeding women still want to feel good about what’s under their clothes as well as on top. The 429 style provides practical, sexy femininity.”

Emma-Jane Maternity on-trend with the launch of our new 362 maternity/nursing bra

With bright bold colours coming off the catwalks, the introduction of our Blue or Fuschia 362 nursing bra is bang on trend.

The 362 is an extension of our Next Generation Range, which are seamfree to give an extra comfortable fit, and designed to grow with mothers during pregnancy.  This pretty bra has a ruched centre, and a soft knitted underband for extra comfort.

For improved support, the shoulder straps have restricted stretch, and each cup has a clip that allows quick and easy access for breastfeeding.  Each cup also opens individually for feeding so the other continues to provide support.  The four back eyes allow for full adjustment as a woman’s body shape changes during pregnancy.

It is available in sizes UK 34-38 and has one cup size (fits B-F cups).  Priced at £14.

Gold Standard

 We’re celebrating here at Emma-Jane as Practical Parenting and Pregnancy Magazine has awarded Gold to our Next Generation Seamfree bra, style 361.  The bra achieved the Gold standard after real mums tested the nursing bra to ensure quality, comfort and affordability.

This award was won against stiff competition, including garments from international companies such as Bravado! Designs and HOTmilk.

We knew the Next Generation Seamfree bra style 361, had already proved to be a hit with mums, but we’re delighted to have the Practical Parenting mums’ seal of approval.  

“The comments we’ve been receiving about this bra confirm that pregnant and nursing mothers put comfort first.  And in tough economic times, a bra that delivers comfort along with good value is going to be a winner,” says Emma-Jane designer Freda Scholey. 

The Next Generation Seamfree bras deliver value in three ways:  excellent value, versatility - the fact that it can be used as a maternity and nursing bra, and stretch cups which adjust during the day as the breasts change shape.

The Next Generation bras are available in a choice of colours - white, black or skin - and in four sizes to fit sizes 32 – 38 B-F. Available from Emma-Jane retailers. Go to www.emma-jane.com  for more details.

Scared of breastfeeding? One mum shares her fears

Breastfeeding. It's a subject that seems to cause so much controversy. But one mum - Kelly - who writes her blog 'A place of my own' - was brave enough to express the fears she has about breastfeeding her second baby. After reading it, we asked her if we could repost it here because we believe it's important for new mums to be honest about how they're feeling so that they can get the support and comfort they need. Kelly has already received lots of great feedback and support on her blog, but we hope that our readers might have some encouraging words of advice for her too.

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Tears and confusion

I cried in Boots today. How utterly embarrassing. I stood there, all wrapped up in my parka, with Piran in the Xplory and big tears started sliding down my face. I had gone in to buy Piran shampoo but that wasn't what set me off. As I weaved my way between the baby aisles I noticed the Tommee Tippee bottles and stopped to have a look.

It is not the bottles and it is not the fact there will be a small baby. It is that I am scared. I am not scared of having a second child. I am not scared of the hard work, the sleep deprivation or the intense changes that we have coming up in the next few months. I am scared of breastfeeding.

I am also scared of writing this post, although it is in my head, crowding out all thoughts a lot of the time. This is my place, where I can write and vent and let go but breastfeeding is such an emotive subject that I am afraid of what people will think of me if I say all this. It has to be done though, so please just remember that this is how I feel about my situation. I have to get it out, that is for sure, I cannot just wander round sobbing in public.

I wrote this post The F-Word 12 weeks after Piran was born. It explains our journey with feeding and how he ended up being bottlefed. I can't actually read it back the whole way through at the moment.

There is a lot behind it, all tied in with him being ill and such a strong willed hungry little man but in its simplest form for many reasons when I tried to breastfeed Piran it did not go so well and in the end I found myself angry at him, resenting him, full of horrible bad feelings towards my own baby son. So I stopped breastfeeding. I stopped trying to breastfeed. I did express as much milk as I could and gave him every last drop until after two weeks my milk dried up.

Over the past 18 months I have come to terms with all of that. He is a beautiful, healthy wonderful child and as far as I can tell formula has done him no harm. I am happy and completely convinced gave him the best start that I was able to give.

But now I am here again. Thumper is growing, kicking, moving, making her presence known. In a few short months all being well I will hold her in my arms. I am dealing with my fears about birth, but ever present and unable to ignore is my fear of breastfeeding.

I know it is not meant to be easy. It is not simple and both of us will have to learn how to do it. But what if it is too hard. I am afraid to try. I am afraid that all those feelings will come back. I don't want to start feeling the way I did about Piran again. Those were dark, evil, terrible feelings that I never ever want again.

So what do I do? Do I simply admit that the fear is too much and just bottlefeed from day one, supplementing with expressed breastmilk for as long as I can. Do I give her the same start I gave Piran? That is what made me cry today. I was looking at bottles, mentally calculating how many we will need and I realised that part of me assumes I will be bottle feeding again.

Or do I try? Do I fully commit myself to breastfeeding this time. It may go okay. If it does how will I feel then? That I am somehow giving her more than I could give Piran. Also, I only know what it is like to have a bottle fed baby, so Mr C could feed Piran and give me a break. I got whole nights of sleep on occasion, will I be able to deal with the fact that if I breastfeed I don't get a break. How will Piran react, will he understand? How will I breastfeed and manage a toddler home alone during the day. How do people do it?

I am scared of what to say to the midwife when she speaks to me about it. I am not sure I can admit face to face any of this. How do you say I am afraid to breastfeed as I am scared it will make me hate my baby. It doesn't make sense, and how would you react if someone said that to you? I know that it is a bit blunt but it is the basic truth. God, if I say that they will probably just take the baby straight off me when it arrives.

Oh it is all so jumbled in my head. It is not even making sense on the page. I am not sure whether writing this has helped or whether I am more confused than I was. It could well be the latter.

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Visit Kelly's blog to read the comments she's received but feel free to leave her some here too. If there are any other mums out there who are feeling the same way or who have a positive second time around story to share with us, please let us know.

Are you comfortable?

We regularly browse parenting forums to see what mums are chatting about. And one subject keeps on coming up - how to find a comfortable maternity bra.

We know that when you're pregnant, almost everything feels uncomfortable, whether you're trying to bend over, eat more than three bites of food or go to sleep. With a baby pushing up into your ribs and ever-growing breasts adding to the weight, finding a bra that is comfortable could become something of holy grail search.

Everyone is different and no one bra is going to work for everyone. But we do know that our Emma-Jane maternity bras are designed with your comfort in mind. And they regularly get rave reviews for exactly that: Comfort!

For example read these reviews on our Smooth Maternity Bra (pictured above)

Besides the make of bra, the other critical component is getting yourself measured correctly. You can measure yourself but you might find going to a professional will help. Use our size chart to work out your size.

Remember these tips for maximum comfort:

When fitting a maternity bra, ensure you have room to grow by fastening the bra on the tightest hook and eye setting. As your rib cage expands, you can adjust it to give yourself extra room.

Make sure the straps are wide enough to support you without digging in. They shouldn’t be too stretchy.

Ensure the centre seam lies flat against your breast bone and isn’t riding up too high at the back

Make sure that the cups fit snugly and smoothly covering most of the breast with no overflow at the top

To see our full range of maternity bras, go to http://www.emma-jane.com/

Add maternity tights to your Autumn wardrobe - and stay comfortable

You're pregnant. It's turned chilly. And you have a really important meeting at work today that requires you to dress to impress. You've invested in some fab maternity skirts, wrap-around tops and to-die-for boots, but this cool autumn breeze means your legs are going to get cold. The solution: tights.

The problem is that most regular tights either won't fit over your bump or if worn below your bump, simply roll down with embarrassing consequences. Maternity tights are the solution.

Emma-Jane has a range of matenity tights, all of which fit over the bump with expanding waistbands and shaped feet. The top selling style (553) comes in black or natural skin colour, 20 denier with a slight glossy sheen and has a special gusset that supports the bump, without being restrictive. And at just £4 a pair they're definitely worth investing in for comfort at the office.

We also have 40 denier, maternity support tights, footless tights and our supersoft maternity tights which are available in black, chocolate, mid-blue and purple to make a fashion statement!

This is what our customers have said about our tights:
"Very comfortable, perfect, loved them"
"Lovely. I really like the fit."

"I was very pleased to come across these maternity tights as other brands seem so expensive. The tights are very comfortable, and are a good fit. I can imagine that the one size fits all does not work for everyone, but at this kind of price, I was very happy with the product.

And read this review by Sarah Powell from Parentdish:
"The Emma Jane tights are very comfortable indeed, with a good-sized, shaped panel for the bump (I'm still wearing them at 36 weeks), and a lovely smooth feel. The black is properly black, even in colour, and did make my swollen calves feel slimmer and more shapely, which was a real result. They're a very good price too at £5.

I have two small niggles with these tights; one pair did go through at the toe quite quickly, and also some of the elastic snapped at the waistband, though I'm fairly certain that's because I washed them at too high a temperature by mistake. My overall verdict, though, is to definitely give them a go, I think you'll like them."
Or read these reviews on Mumstuff.

So just because you're pregnant, doesn't mean you can't work those fabulous Autumn fashions. Get some tights and strutt your stuff!