Supportive nursing garment

Abstract

A nursing garment comprising a breast support, a breast covering layer disposed between breasts of a user and the breast support, and a pair of shoulder straps, with each strap connected to the breast covering layer. The breast covering layer has a nursing flap positioned over each breast, with each nursing flap able to be lifted individually to provide access to a breast for nursing an infant. The breast support is releasably detachable from the breast covering layer to enable lifting of the nursing flap and the nursing flap continues to cover the breast from view while nursing the infant.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to nursing garments worn by women during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pregnant and breastfeeding women usually wear nursing bras to accommodate the typical increase in breast size during pregnancy and breastfeeding. During the night it is also more comfortable to sleep with the additional support of a bra. Typically women wear either a nursing bra, a sports crop bra, or a shelf bra which is built into an outer garment.

Nursing bras include cups that may be opened from the front to expose the breasts for nursing, and therefore these are the most convenient to use whilst breastfeeding. Once opened, the nursing cup of a traditional nursing bra exposes the majority of the breast to allow for breastfeeding; however this leaves the top of the breast exposed even when the baby is attached. Nursing bras are generally designed for day wear and cannot be comfortably worn while sleeping as they are often made from non-elastic or lacy fabrics with bulky fasteners at the back.

Sports crop bras and shelf bras are usually constructed from a front and back panel of stretch fabric and can be pulled over the head without the need for fasteners to do them up at the back. However most of these types of bras, excluding one disclosed in patent application number WO 02/30221 A2, lack the drop down cup for breastfeeding. All of the abovementioned types of bras lack the support and breast separation of traditional nursing bras and furthermore do not cover the breast during breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding in public is not generally seen as socially acceptable behaviour and many women feel intimidated and embarrassed. A need therefore exists for a nursing garment for pregnant and breastfeeding women that combines comfort and nursing functionality with breast support, modesty and aestheticism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nursing garment comprising:

a breast support;

a breast covering layer disposed between breasts of a user and the breast support;

a pair of shoulder straps, each strap connected to the breast covering layer;

the breast covering layer having a nursing flap positioned over each breast, each nursing flap able to be lifted individually to provide access to a breast for nursing an infant;

wherein the breast support is releasably detachable from the breast covering layer to enable lifting of the nursing flap and the nursing flap thereafter covers the breast from view while nursing the infant.

The nursing garment may further comprise a back panel having side edges connected to respective side edges of the breast support and respective side edges of the breast covering layer.

Each shoulder strap may be connected at one end to an upper edge of the breast covering layer and at another end to an upper edge of the back panel.

The nursing garment may further comprise a band extending around the torso of the user, the band being connected to a lower edge of the back panel a lower edge of the breast support and a lower portion of the breast covering layer.

Each of the shoulder straps may be connected to the upper edge of the breast covering layer by one or more hooks. The breast support may have an eyelet, to enable releasable attachment to the one or more hooks thereby allowing the breast support to fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap.

The breast support is preferably formed as a pair of cups and a base panel, each cup attached to the base panel. The eyelet of the breast support is located at an upper portion of each cup to enable either cup to fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap.

The nursing garment may be made of a stretchable material to avoid the use of fasteners in the back panel such that the garment is placed around the torso after being looped over the head of the user. Such materials may include soft, elastic and stretchable fabrics, such as spandex (or elastane), polyester, cotton or blends thereof which eliminates the need for fasteners at the back of the garment and is designed to be pulled over the head Once the nursing cup of the breast support has been opened, the flap of the breast covering layer may be lifted to allow the baby to attach and then pulled back over the top of the breast whilst breastfeeding so that the entire breast is obscured.

The nursing garment may be a bra or form part of another garment, such as a singlet, shirt or dress.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described solely by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of a nursing garment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a second embodiment of a nursing garment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a breast covering layer of the garment;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a breast support of the garment as used in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a breast support of the garment as used in the embodiment of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a front view of the back panel of the garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a nursing garment 100 according to two embodiments of the present invention. Like reference numerals have been used for the same features in each of the six Figures. The nursing garment 100 includes a breast support 108 and a breast covering layer 106. It may further include a back panel 116, a pair of shoulder straps 126 and a band 118 that encircles the torso of a user.

The breast support 108 is a breast conforming layer configured to provide breast support. To optimise breast support, the nursing garment of FIG. 1 has a pair of cups 109. Each cup 109 of the breast support 108 is made from an upper panel 110 and a lower panel 112 sewn together to form the cup shape. The two cups 109 are then stitched into a base panel 114 which holds the cups 109 in place over each breast. This method is often used in traditional bra cups, as best seen in FIG. 4, and need not be further described herein.

The breast support 108 shown in FIG. 2, and in isolation in FIG. 5, comprises a single layer attached at a lower edge 123 to an elastic torso-encircling band 118. This type of breast support is commonly referred to as a shelf bra or sports crop bra The nursing garment 100 is assembled by sewing together side edges 111, 113 of the breast support 108, side edges 115, 117 of the breast covering layer 106 (FIG. 5), and side edges 119, 121 of the back panel 116 (FIG. 6). The lower edge 123 of the breast support 108, lower portion 125 of the breast covering layer 106, and lower edge 127 of the back panel 116 are connected to the elastic torso-encircling band 118. The breast support 108 is therefore overlapping the breast covering layer 106 such that nursing flaps 120 of the layer 106 are in co-location with cups 109 and 111 of breast support 108 of FIG. 1.

The breast covering layer 106, as best seen in FIG. 3, is preferably a T-shaped layer that is attached by the lower portion 125 to the elastic torso-encircling band 118, and by a top edge 133 of each nursing flap 120 to a pair of shoulder straps 126 via one or more hooks 124 or alternatively a clasp. Specifically, the shoulder straps 126 include moving sliders (not shown) to enable adjustment of the length, thus adjusting the overall size of the bra cups. Moving sliders are widely used in garments such as lingerie and need not be further described herein.

Releasable eyelets 122 are attached to the upper areas (between side edges 111, 113 and upper edge 107) of the breast support 108 at positions overlapping corresponding hooks 124, the hooks 124 permanently attaching the breast covering layer 106 to the shoulder straps 126. As best seen in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, in use a wearer releases one of the hooks 124 from a corresponding eyelet 122 to allow one side of the breast support 108 to fold downwardly to expose a nursing flap 120, which is a portion of the breast covering layer 106. The nursing flap 120 is then folded or lifted upwardly to allow nursing. While the infant is feeding and throughout the folding down of the breast support 108, the nursing flap 120 of the layer 106 covers the breast used for nursing. Thus a mother can feed her child without feeling exposed in public.

The embodiments of the present invention describes a supportive nursing garment with a breast covering layer for discrete breastfeeding. It is designed to stretch and be pulled over the head of a user to ensure maximum comfort.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment described above is intended only to serve as an example and that many other embodiments are possible with the spirit and the scope of the present invention. The nursing garment may be constructed on its own or as a shelf bra as part of an outer garment. Further, the configuration of the shoulder straps is not limited, and may be implemented in other configurations such as a halter neck or a Y-back. Finally, the releasable connection between the bra cups and the breast support is not limited to hook and eye fasteners, but may be alternatively implemented using conventional releasable fasteners, such as hoop and loop fasteners (or Velcro). It will also be appreciated that the back panel is not restricted to a single panel, but can be formed in two panels or segments that are connected through a suitable fastener such as a hook and eyelet combination as per a regular bra.

Claims

1. A nursing garment comprising:

a breast support;

a breast covering layer disposed between breasts of a user and the breast support;

a pair of shoulder straps, each strap connected to the breast covering layer;

the breast covering layer having a nursing flap positioned over each breast, each nursing flap able to be lifted individually to provide access to a breast for nursing an infant;

wherein the breast support is releasably detachable from the breast covering layer to enable lifting of the nursing flap and the nursing flap thereof covers the breast from view while nursing the infant.

2. A nursing garment according to claim 1 further comprising a back panel having side edges connected to respective side edges of the breast support and respective side edges of the breast covering layer.

3. A nursing garment according to claim 2 wherein each shoulder strap is connected at one end to an upper edge of the breast covering layer and at another end to an upper edge of the back panel.

4. A nursing garment according to claim 3 further comprising a band extending around the torso of the user, the band being connected to a lower edge of the back panel, a lower edge of the breast support and a lower portion of the breast covering layer.

5. A nursing garment according to claim 4 wherein each of the shoulder straps are connected to the upper edge of the breast covering layer by one or more hooks.

6. A nursing garment according to claim 5 wherein the breast support has an eyelet to enable releasable attachment to the one or more hooks thereby allowing the breast support to fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap.

7. A nursing garment according to claim 6 wherein the breast support is formed as a pair of cups and a base panel, each cup attached to the base panel.

8. A nursing garment according to claim 7 wherein the eyelet of the breast support is located at an upper portion of each cup to enable either cup to fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap.

9. A nursing garment according to claim 8 made of a stretchable material to avoid the use of fasteners in the back panel such that the garment is placed around the torso after being looped over the head of the user.

10. A nursing garment according to claim 1 that forms part of another garment, such as a singlet, shirt or dress.