What To Wear After Giving Birth: Best Postpartum Compression Garments (2024)

Postpartum, your body will be sensitive and sore, so anything you wear will need to be flexible and work with your body to provide support without being uncomfortable. You will likely find it useful to have a combination of soft and loose outer layers, snug undergarments and supportive compression garments and shapewear.

Postpartum Clothes

When choosing the right postpartum clothes, remember that over the next 8 weeks or so, your body will be recovering and adjusting to the significant changes after giving birth. These changes will be incremental so don't expect to be able to get back into your pre-maternity clothes for some time.

What To Wear In The First Few Weeks Post Birth

If you are breastfeeding, look for tops that are easy to open. You can find maternity clothes with built-in sections to make this simple, or look for clothes with zips or poppers down the front, or which are loose enough to lift up. Oversized tops can also work, allowing you to lift up your top and access yourmaternity bra.

Leggings with good elastic waists will be ideal during this time, helping you to feel supported as you move about. Choose leggings in breathable fabrics, such as cotton, to ensure maximum comfort.

What To Wear In The Next Few Months Post Birth

Once your body has started to recover from birth, you can start to include more of your pre-maternity wardrobe. Depending on how you gave birth, you may need to choose clothes that allow you to wear compression garments or shapewear underneath – macom'scompression garmentsare all suitable to wear under most clothes.

Once you feel able to wear more snug tops, combining spaghetti straps and vests can make it easy to breastfeed, if you are doing so. If you are not breastfeeding, you will likely be able to return to your pre-maternity wardrobe at this point.

Elastic or loose waist trousers are still going to be the most comfortable option, alongside leggings, in the first 6 months post-birth. Remember that recovery isn't over after that initial 6 or 8 week period, particularly if you have had a difficult birth or a C-section, which is major surgery.

What To Wear With Postpartum Clothes To Aid Recovery

To make your recovery as fast as possible and to give your body the kind of support that ensures everything stays where it is, we would recommend looking at stomach and abdomen supporting compression garments andpostpartum shapewear.

Best Postpartum Compression Garments & Shapewear

Postpartum shapewear and compression garments can be worn under your regular clothes, with maternity wear, and some can be worn at night too.

Our range of postpartum compression garments are medical-grade and have been created to ensure great support, without feeling tight or applying too much pressure.

What support garments are recommended postpartum will depend slightly on how you gave birth, be it a natural birth or a C-section, as you will have different needs when it comes to recovery support.

Postpartum Support Garments For After A Natural Birth

If you have had a natural birth (vagin*l birth), we would recommend using theWAISTSCULPTOR corset. Compression is helpful to your body while it repairs, though you should listen to your body and only wear it for as long as you feel comfortable. We recommend starting with 1-3 hours at most immediately after birth, increasing the time after the first 1.5-2 weeks.

From 6 weeks after birth, you can start wearing themacom® shaping girdle. Body shaping and slimming, it provides supporting compression across the torso and stomach. It has detachable straps, making it easy to wear with a variety of tops, and a fastening gusset.

Postpartum Support Garments For After A C-Section

From 3 days after a caesarean birth, we would recommend using ourabdominal and upper back compression garment.It can be worn with a memory foam insert, which sits underneath and against the skin over your abdomen. This helps with lymphatic drainage, the transport of fluid out of your body, and improves blood microcirculation.

Another garment we'd recommend is our3-panel binder. This can be worn alone, or with our abdominal and upper back compression garment. This binder is flexible, using elasticised thread, and adjustable, with velcro fastening, allowing you to adjust the fit to suit your comfort.

Later in your postpartum recovery, if you still feel you would like extra support, try ourhigh-waisted compression knickers. They have a stylish lace finish so look great, but have the additional frontal reinforcement to allow you to feel confident post-birth.

More Recommended Products

If you are interested in more postpartum products, check out our C-section compression garments andpostpartum shapewearsections.

What To Wear After Giving Birth: Best Postpartum Compression Garments (2024)

FAQs

What To Wear After Giving Birth: Best Postpartum Compression Garments? ›

Motif Postpartum Recovery Support Garments were designed by medical professionals to assist in recovery after birth by providing structure to stabilize the stomach, back and hips. This medical garment provides extra support to improve posture while tightening and toning the areas most affected by pregnancy.

Is compression good for postpartum belly? ›

Medical-grade compression garments can work to gently reduce swelling during the postpartum period. Compression garments can provide relief if you are suffering from pelvic pain after delivery. Postpartum compression garments may include support panels that stabilize your abdominal area.

Can I wear shapewear after giving birth? ›

Shapewear can still be used after you've recovered to help you feel your best in your clothes, but they will not provide any medical benefits during your recovery. There are several different postpartum compression garments that can provide you with substantial benefits during your recovery period and beyond.

When should I start wearing a postpartum girdle? ›

For women who give birth naturally, it is recommended to wait about 20 days for production. After the fluid has drained out, you should wear a belt. For women giving birth by cesarean section, to avoid pain in the incision, it is necessary to wait 1-2 months or until the wound is completely healed before using a belt.

What's the best thing to wear after giving birth? ›

Clothes wise, immediately post-partum or for coming home, I would recommend stretchy dresses or leggings and a large t-shirt or vest in the summer months.

How can I tighten my saggy stomach after pregnancy? ›

7 tips to tighten loose skin after pregnancy
  1. Eat healthy fats and proteins. Eating protein and healthy fats can help you build muscle, so protein can also contain collagen. ...
  2. Try to do regular strength training. ...
  3. Drink water. ...
  4. Massage with oil. ...
  5. Try Firming Products. ...
  6. Go to the spa to wrap your skin.

How can I flatten my postpartum belly? ›

6 Get-Your-Body-Back Moves After Childbirth
  1. Walking.
  2. Deep Belly Breathing With Abdominal Contraction.
  3. Head Lifts, Shoulder Lifts, and Curl-Ups.
  4. Kneeling Pelvic Tilt.
  5. Kegels.
  6. Bonus Workouts for You and Your Baby.
Nov 28, 2023

When to start wearing compression postpartum? ›

Postpartum compression garments that provide pelvic floor support (again, not shapewear garments, waist trainers, abdominal binders, or postpartum corsets) can be worn at two weeks after your baby is born until up to four months postpartum, whether you're a first time mom or have gone through childbirth multiple times.

What is the difference between shapewear and compression? ›

Postpartum compression garments are specifically designed to help your body heal after birth. Shapewear helps smooth the curves of your body—those are very different functions! To be even more specific, let's take a closer look at five differences between postpartum recovery garments and general shapewear.

How can I tighten my waist after having a baby? ›

Stomach exercise

Let your tummy relax and breathe in gently. As you breathe out, gently draw in the lower part of your stomach like a corset, narrowing your waistline. Squeeze your pelvic floor muscles at the same time. Hold for a count of 10, breathing normally, then gently release.

How many days to tie stomach after delivery? ›

Belly binding has been done for centuries.

Belly binding is the tradition of wrapping the postpartum belly 2-4 days after a vagin*l birth (or 10 days to 2 weeks after a cesarean birth).

How long does your stomach stay soft after birth? ›

6 months postpartum belly

At this stage, your core muscles should also be significantly stronger, so your belly probably won't feel quite as squishy as it did in those early days and weeks following baby's birth. That said, remember that postpartum belly progression is different for every new mom.

Is 3 months too late to wear a postpartum girdle? ›

It's recommended that belly bands are worn between 2-12 weeks postpartum for the best possible results. Check-in with your body and take its cues to guide how long you wear your belly band in those first few months.

What should a baby wear immediately after birth? ›

What do babies wear immediately after birth? Typically, hospitals provide basic clothing and swaddles for newborns. Many hospitals recommend just bringing with you a going-home outfit for baby, although you're welcome to bring baby her own clothes to wear throughout your stay.

How soon after birth can you wear shapewear? ›

Postpartum Support Garments For After A Natural Birth

We recommend starting with 1-3 hours at most immediately after birth, increasing the time after the first 1.5-2 weeks. From 6 weeks after birth, you can start wearing the macom® shaping girdle.

What should a woman not do after giving birth? ›

Don't drink alcohol, use street drugs or use harmful drugs. All of these can affect your mood and make you feel worse. And they can make it hard for you to take care of your baby. Ask for help from your partner, family and friends.

How long postpartum to wear compression? ›

Postpartum compression garments that provide pelvic floor support (again, not shapewear garments, waist trainers, abdominal binders, or postpartum corsets) can be worn at two weeks after your baby is born until up to four months postpartum, whether you're a first time mom or have gone through childbirth multiple times.

Does wrapping your stomach work postpartum? ›

Diastasis recti

For many women, while their organs return to their original positions, their abdominal muscles may not close naturally within the standard 2-month time frame after delivering. This is known as diastasis recti. Belly binding can help to hold the muscles together and speed up that closure.

What should I wear with my postpartum belly? ›

How To Dress The Postpartum Body
  • Go for darker colors. Darker colors absorb light and make bodies appear slimmer than they actually are. ...
  • Prints FTW! Patterns and prints can also help to hide the tummy by creating camouflage. ...
  • Loose-fitting Garments. ...
  • Tunic Style Tops. ...
  • Kaftans. ...
  • Embrace pants.
Mar 19, 2024

How do I tighten my stomach muscles after having a baby? ›

This exercise can help you tone your stomach muscles:
  1. Lie on your side with your knees slightly bent.
  2. Let your tummy relax and breathe in gently.
  3. As you breathe out, gently draw in the lower part of your stomach like a corset, narrowing your waistline.
  4. Squeeze your pelvic floor muscles at the same time.

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