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Nine months of carrying a baby can challenge and change your body in many ways, from tired legs, swelling, blood pooling and varicose veins.
Being pregnant can come with many challenges but, thankfully, maternity compression garments can help to promote health and happiness during your pregnancy and reduce the not-so-pleasant side effects, enabling you to enjoy your pregnancy to its full capacity..
What is Maternity Compression?
Maternity compression garments were created to alleviate uncomfortable symptoms of poor circulation in the veins and to support the changing bodies of new and expectant mothers. By using a technique called ‘graduated compression’, the blood in the leg veins is effectively returned back to the Heart, helping to eliminate the pooling of blood in the veins.
Depending on what symptoms you encounter and to what degree, will determine which maternity compression garment you need and how much compression is exerted on the leg veins.
Compression socks and tights can be worn from the start of your pregnancy and beyond, where maternity tights are not only used to help the leg veins during your pregnancy, but also, quite importantly, during your recovery period, where you may not be so active straight after the birth. Postpartum recovery garments are superb at helping those who may have had a C-section, offering support and protection for scars and tummy tissues.
These products are made with extremely supportive and comfortable fabric to give strength where it's needed to allow expectant mothers to sustain their active lifestyle effectively.
Different Types of Garments for Maternity Compression
What are Varicose Veins?
Varicose veins are enlarged and swollen veins that tend to appear on the legs, groin and vulva. They are dark, purple and blue in colour, and can have a twisted, lumpy and projected appearance.
Normally, these veins are worse during the summer periods or if you have been standing up for a little while, but this can be improved if you raise your legs when you rest or just simply walk around. However, for those with varicose veins that do not improve with the above, compression hosiery can be very, effective.
Here we will be discussing the benefits of maternity compression to help you enjoy your pregnancy every step of the way.
Varicose veins and spider veins are extremely common amidst pregnant women as their veins soften in preparation for childbirth and with the extra blood circulating around the body, there is an increased likelihood of blood pooling and varicose veins appearing.
Luckily, maternity support tights and other various compression garments such as compression socks, stockings and maternity support bands can help prevent varicose veins by helping the blood circulation, supporting the pregnant body and minimising the likelihood of blood pooling within the veins.
The extra fluid produced during your pregnancy can put an enormous amount of pressure on your cardiovascular system and heart as it pumps more blood around the body. Because of this, your veins and arteries now have to hold more volume, yet their capacity has still not changed.
The excess fluid produced can mean a slower blood flow with less force and thus, putting more pressure on the walls of your veins, making them work harder and increasing the possibility of blood pooling. Maternity support tights and compression garments work together with your body to help decrease the pressure on your veins, increasing a better venous flow and encouraging a healthy circulation.
Swelling duringpregnancy is unfortunately very common, particularly in your ankles, legs, feet, hands and fingers. It can often worsen later on in your pregnancy and at the end of each day. Swelling gradually during your pregnancy is not damaging to you or your baby, although it can cause some discomfort. However, if you swell quickly this could be a sign of preeclampsia, so please seek the advice of your Doctor or Midwife first.
If swelling is due to water retention, then the use of maternity compression hosiery will help.
How does maternity compression decrease swelling?
Compression garments such as maternity support tights and socks help to push blood back from superficial veins into the deep veins, which is then returned back to the Heart. It works by exerting the most pressure at the ankle, which gradually gets less and less, the further up the leg length and it is this gradual pressure that promotes blood flow back up the body. Once the blood circulation is healthy, this then helps improve lymphatic flow, helping the body to rid of excess fluids and therefore, reducing swelling, pain and discomfort.
Maternity supports tights help to give your legs a feeling of containment, giving the legs a more regular shape, as many women find they lose definition in their knees, ankles and feet because of the swelling. These maternity compression garments help to enhance leg shape, whilst subsequently reducing swelling.
During your pregnancy your heart works 30% harder and your body creates 50% more blood. From this, pregnancy can adversely affect your circulation on many levels. This means women’s bodies are prone to blood clotting and increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) due to hormonal changes.
The pressure from the uterus growing can impact upon the veins in the hips, groin and legs causing a much slower blood flow. To overcome this and enhance your circulation, maternity tights compress your veins and help promote healthy circulation and lessen the possibility of blood clots and pooling from occurring.
A classic side effect during pregnancy is having heavy, achy and tired legs, an early symptom of poor venous flow, so by using maternity compression tights, you can help to curb these uncomfortable feelings. By improving your leg circulation, you will help increase the oxygen levels and the amount of nutrients taken up by the blood and circulating in your body.
An added bonus of these compression tights is that they allow your legs to feel more stimulated, helping to reduce lactic acid build up and reducing soreness and muscle pain.
Conclusion
If this is your first pregnancy or your third, maternity compression tights can help to reduce the discomfort and pain in your legs. Therefore, if you are suffering with achiness, swelling, heavy feeling or varicose veins, then wearing maternity support tights can help to massively, curtail many of these undesirable, side effects during pregnancy.
Why not browse our collection of maternity compression hosiery to help you on your pregnancy journey, from Maternity Support Tights, Compression Stockings and Support Socks to our Belly Bandit Pregnancy and Post-Partum Support Garments.
