Maternity Bras

Smith & Caughey in Auckland City has a good range of different bigger-sized maternity bras, some of them at (gasp!) reasonable prices. I bought a Triumph one there, at a cost of about $70, but it has held up really well and has actually been the most supportive of all the maternity bras I tried and bought here. S & C had several different brands and heaps of sizes -- I was pretty impressed with them. They also have shop assistants who actually know how to fit you for a maternity bra, which helps!

I also tried the Elle MacPherson ones and found them to be useless for big boobs (I'm an 18E), although pretty to look at.

Rich Undercover in Greenwoods Corner does have maternity bras, although their range is limited - it would pay to call them before you go in, to see how much they have in your size. They are also very expensive. I just bought my first post-breastfeeding "real" bra from them and it is amazing. For $95, it damn well better be amazing, I say! They are also excellent at fitting you for the right bra. I tried on about 10 "real" bras and they all felt and looked awesome, and they were all ones that the shop assistant recommended -- I never have that experience when I choose my own bras off the racks, so I was pretty impressed with them too.

To be truthful, the best-ever maternity bra I got was a Medela one from the US -- it cost me about US$35 and was well worth it. I don't know of any websites that you can buy them on and have them shipped to NZ, but if you have a friend in the US, you can always get one on a website there, have it sent to them, and have them send it here (can you tell I do that a lot???). The Medela one was underwire - impossible to find here in a maternity bra. I loved it.