Reusable Nursing Pads That Attach to a Nursing Bra

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to moisture managing undergarments, particularly such garments for women. More specifically, but not exclusively this invention relates to brassieres worn by women during the late stages of pregnancy, immediately following delivery and especially during the lactation period when an infant child is being breast-fed by the lactating mother.

The female mammary gland is a somewhat conical mass of glandular tissue traversed and supported by strands of fibrous tissue and covered by a thick layer of fat. Each gland is situated in the superficial facia covering the anterior aspect of the thorax and usually extends from the level of the second or third rib to that of the sixth rib. The hemispherical projection formed by the gland lies upon the superficial aspect of the pectoralis major and to a lesser extent upon the serratus anterior muscle. Near the summit of each mammary gland and usually at the level of the fourth or fifth rib is a papilla mammae, or nipple from which the mother's milk flows.

Breast Feeding has enjoyed a recent recurrence of popularity. It is now recognized that breast feeding has a number of significant advantages over bottle feeding. Mother's milk is always the right temperature and contains the proper proportions of carbohydrate, protein and fat. Mother's milk is also free from bacterial contamination and contains natural antibodies to numerous infant diseases. The food is ever present and the Mother is able to feed the newborn immediately whenever and wherever the infant gets hungry, as well as lightening up the diaper bag, with no formula or bottles to carry around. The Mother's breasts increase their production of milk automatically when the infant feeds more often than usual, the milk production increases. So many aspects of breast feeding illustrate how well tuned our bodies are for naturally procreating.

This recurrence of popularity has, however run squarely into the ever-increasing tendency for women to combine careers with child-rearing. This presents problems relating to proper garment selection and wear, and embarrassment which may result from leakage from the breasts through to outer garments.

During pregnancy, particularly in the latter stages, the breast enlarges under the influence of hormonal changes incident to pregnancy and in preparation for lactation. Upon delivery of the child, the breast is prepared to dispense milk from tiny openings in the nipple, unless suppressed.

With nursing comes the occasional problem of breasts leaking when the infant is unavailable, or when the infant has increased production and the Mom pumped earlier, but now the breasts are full again and need release. Going out in public when the Mom finds herself in this situation, can lead to embarrassment and chagrin. Nursing pads have been around forever, to try to catch this release, freeing the Mom from this situation. Unfortunately prior art nursing pads get bunched up, are cumbersome, easily lost, dropped and just become unwieldy very quickly.

Prior art nursing pads in action, typically crumple or fold during the act of nursing, creating lumps in the nursing pad, almost impossible to smooth out with a Mom's hands full of infant. Without smoothing the nursing pads out, they create lumps in the bra and look lumpy through the shirt the Mom is wearing. And because they are fully removable, the pads can just fall out of the bra and causing them to be lost which is just another headache a Mom has to face. Women want a nursing pad that is comfortable and easy to maneuver so that it does stem the tide of leaks while doesn't pose a sanitary or otherwise unhealthy problem. Therefore what is needed is a comfortable nursing pad device that may be attached to a bra, but may be easily removeable when the pad is soiled or not needed without the fear of losing, dropping, or otherwise misplacing the pad.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a solution to loose breast pads that become displaced or bunch up by simply snapping/velcroing them into place inside of the nursing bra. There will be a securement on the back of the nursing pad that attaches to the inside of the breast cup. This will be either a button clasp or Velcro. Once the breast pad is attached, it doesn't come out until it is purposely removed to wash or replace with a new pad. The mother can unsnap and drop down the bra cup to feed the baby and then easily resnap the nursing bra with one hand once done feeding. SnappyMama takes the frustration out of this process as the mother no longer needs to worry about leaking breast milk onto clothing because the breast pad has moved out of place. The breast pad is washable and reusable, thereby decreasing waste from disposable breast pads.

The new Mother is often exhausted from having the baby and getting up all hours of night for feedings so once morning arrives, and the Mother gets dressed, snapping the SnappyMama breast pad into her nursing bra alleviates any worries she might have about leaking, about the breast pad getting crumpled, moved out of place, or just falling out. The next time the Mother needs to feed her infant, which occurs every few hours in the beginning, she unhooks her nursing bra to drop down the bra cup to free up the nursing breast to feed the infant and the SnappyMama breast pad is still attached to the bra cup, not dropping out, not crumpling up, not displacing. SnappyMama provides the new Mother one less thing to worry about. And this process repeats itself many many times a day, and for every time the Mother drops down her nursing bra cup to feed her infant, SnappyMama is still secured inside the Mother's nursing bra cup, catching any fluids leaking from the Mother's breast's because it is exactly in the same spot it was hours ago, secured and aptly located.

This is day one of back to work for a Mother who just had her baby 8 weeks ago. This Mother is smart though and had pumped her breasts ahead of time so her baby could be drinking breast milk while she was at work. The Mother gets dressed but before she does, she gets two SnappyMama breast pads out of her drawer and snaps them into place into both sides of her nursing bra. Now she knows if she leaks at all, the breast pad will prevent the leak from coming through on her clothing. At work, the Mother goes to a break room to pump her breasts. Because she has snapped SnappyMama breast pads into her nursing bra this morning, the breast pads are still there smooth and covering the entire bra cup. When she drops the bra cup down to pump, the bra cup opens up and there is the SnappyMama breast pad lining the bra cup, attached to the bra cup in several areas so the breast pad does not, move around, crumple, fall out of the bra cup. When the Mother is done, resnapping the bra cup onto the nursing bra, the SnappyMama breast pad is still lining the bra cup and prevents any leaks to leak onto the Mother's clothes once again.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of this disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a frontal view of the nursing bra 6 with both the left and right bra cups 1 unsnapped and dropped down to facilitate nursing. Both bra cups 1 have a SnappyMama breast pad 2 attached thereto, however, the right SnappyMama breast pad 2, has one of the Velcro/snap 3 unsnapped or ripped exposing the Velcro/snap 3 attached to the underside of the SnappyMama breast pad 2. In addition, the matching Velcro/snap 3 attached to the bra cup 1 is also shown, where the exposed Velcro/snap 3 will attach. Also shown is the

FIG. 2 illustrates the nursing bra 6 without SnappyMama breast pad 2 on one side of the nursing bra 6 and with the snaps/Velcro 3 attached to the bra cup 1 to receive the SnappyMama breast pad 2, and the SnappyMama breast pad 2 securely fastened to the opposite side bra cup 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates the underside of the SnappyMama breast pad 2, with the snaps/Velcro 3 attached thereto to attach to bra cup 1 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In preferred embodiments of this invention, FIG. 1, illustrates the frontal view of the nursing bra 6 with both left and right bra cup 1 folded down for breastfeeding. The SnappyMama right breast pad 2 is detached from said right bra cup 1 in one spot to illustrate the Velcro/snap 3 attached to the SnappyMama breast pad 2 and also the Velcro/snap 3 attached to the inside of the bra cup 1 to receive the SnappyMama breast pad 2 Velcro/snap 3. The SnappyMama left breast pad 2 is firmly attached to the left bra cup 1 using the same Velcro/snap 3 means as the right bra cup 1. A bra clasp 4 is attached to the strap 5 of the nursing bra 6, up above the nursing bra cup 1 to open said bra cup 1 for breast feeding an infant, and once feeding is done, the nursing bra cup 1 comes up, with the SnappyMama breast pad 2 attached, and the bra clasp 4 closes, latching securely the bra cup1/SnappyMama breast pad 2 onto the nursing bra strap 5 of the nursing bra 6.

In preferred embodiments of this invention, FIG. 2 illustrates the inside view of the nursing bra cup 1, showing the Velcro/snaps 3 located equidistant from each other on the nursing bra cup 1. Also shown is the back side of the SnappyMama breast pad 2 on the left hand side of the nursing bra 6.

In preferred embodiments of this invention, FIG. 3 illustrates the inside of the SnappyMama breast pad 2, where the Velcro/snap 3 are shown. These Velcro/snaps 3 on the inside of the SnappyMama breast pad 2 attach to FIG. 2's nursing bra cup 1.

In a preferred embodiment, the SnappyMama breast pad is also reusable, because it is comprised of washable comfortable smooth fabrics.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to teaching, examples and preferred embodiments, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain its essential characteristics, and without departing from the spirit and scope thereof can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions. Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Such equivalents are encompassed by the scope of the present invention.