Patent Application
20240342016
The disclosure relates to postpartum garments and more particularly pertains to a new postpartum garment for absorbing bodily fluids and facilitating healing after childbirth.
The prior art discloses several postpartum garments for absorbing vaginal blood and other bodily fluids which discharge after childbirth. The prior art also includes postpartum garments which apply a compressive force near a caesarean section incision to reduce inflammation and promote healing at the site of the incision. However, the prior art fails to disclose a postpartum garment which absorbs vaginal blood released by a user's body after childbirth while providing an elastic compress which facilitates reduction of the size of a uterus after childbirth. Such a garment is desirable, because it provides sufficient leak protection to the user while also aiding the user's body in reducing the size of the uterus. Without compression, uteri typically contract naturally, though the experience can be more uncomfortable for the user.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a hip portion has a tubular shape and is configured for is worn around a hip of a user. An absorbent member is coupled to and positioned at a bottom side of the hip portion and is configured for absorbing vaginal blood. A waistband is coupled to a top end of the hip portion and is resiliently stretchable. When the apparatus is worn, the waistband is stretched around a torso of the user such that a compression force is exerted by the waistband on the torso. The waistband is configured for being positioned over a fundus of a uterus of the user such that the compression force is exerted onto the fundus.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
An absorbent member 22 is coupled to and positioned at a bottom side 24 of the hip portion 12. The absorbent member 22 comprises an absorbent material which is configured for absorbing vaginal blood, which is often released from wounds sustained by the user 14 after the user 14 has given vaginal birth. The absorbent member 22 has a crotch portion 26 extending from a front side 28 of the hip portion 12 to a rear side 30 of the hip portion 12 along the bottom side 24 and between the pair of leg portions 18. The absorbent member 22 also includes a pair of lateral portions 32, each of which extends around a respective leg portion 18 of the pair of leg portions 18. The absorbent member 22 may comprise cotton, wool, bamboo, sodium polyacrylate, potassium polyacrylate, or the like.
A waistband 34 is coupled to a top end 42 of the hip portion 12 and is resiliently stretchable. The waistband 34 is configured for being stretched around a torso 36 of the user 14 such that a compression force is exerted by the waistband 34 on the torso 36. The waistband 34 is configured for being positioned over a fundus 40 of a uterus 38 of the user 14 such that the compression force is exerted onto the fundus 40. The compression force assists the uterus 38 to contract after childbirth. The waistband 34 has a width of at least 2.75 inches between a proximal edge 44 of the waistband 34 and a distal edge 46 of the waistband 34 with respect to the hip portion 12. Each leg band 48 of a pair of leg bands 48 is coupled to a lower end 50 of an associated leg portion 18 of the pair of leg portions 18. Each leg band 48 is resiliently stretchable such that each leg band 48 forms a seal with an associated leg 20 of the pair of legs 20 to prevent leakage of the vaginal blood out of the postpartum garment apparatus.
In use, the postpartum garment apparatus is worn by the user 14 after the user 14 gives birth. The waistband 34 is stretched around the torso 36 of the user 14 and positioned over the fundus 40 of the uterus 38 of the user 14 so that the waistband 34 exerts the compression force onto the fundus 40. The absorbent member 22 is positioned below the vagina of the user 14 so that the vaginal blood may be absorbed. Other bodily fluids may also be absorbed by the absorbent member 22, and blood resulting from menstruation and medical procedures such as caesarean sections may also be absorbed by the absorbent member 22.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
