Development of maternity support garments for yse during extended periods of standing and walking

Abstract

50-70% of pregnant women have experienced some form of low back pain during pregnancy. Low back pain is a common medical problem of pregnant women as a result of growing uterus and hormonal changes. A feasible and common therapy would be applying supportive maternity wear to eliminate low back pain. Current maternity garments may not provide all round support with comfort to pregnant women, especially during the third trimesters. This project aims to develop a comfortable maternity support garment for use during extended period of standing and walking. The study has investigated the current local market of maternity support garment and discovered only maternity belt is available in Hong Kong. Four maternity support garment prototypes with popular features have been generated. Mechanical properties of fabrics used for making maternity support garment have been evaluated and the most suitable fabric to minimizing the embryo swaying with acceptable comfort level has been selected. Preliminary study of the four garment prototypes has been conducted, which included anthropometric measurements, embryo motion while standing and walking respectively, and human psychological perceptions of comfort with and without wearing the prototypes. Final maternity support garment has been developed. Wear trial for investigation on its efficacy has been conducted.