Maintaining good posture is a key part of our overall health. Poor posture, whether standing, sitting, or lying down, can lead to back, hip, or neck pain as well as muscle fatigue. But when you’re pregnant or just had a baby, good posture — and a healthy back — can be hard to come by.

Pregnancy can affect women’s bodies physically in a number of ways. As the baby grows, the baby’s weight causes a woman’s center of gravity to shift forward as abdominal muscles stretch. Joints and ligaments can also loosen due to hormones. This can all lead muscle soreness and fatigue as well as a swaybacked appearance, because it’s just harder to stand or sit up straight.

Ideally, to maintain good posture, you should try to tuck your pelvis under and keep your upper back as straight as possible. And try to avoid standing in one position for too long or put one leg up, if you can, to help relieve the pressure on your lower back. The same goes with sitting — it can be hard to avoid slouching but when you’re pregnant, you should try to sit with your pelvis tucked — remember those “sit up straight” admonishments from when you were a child?

But it’s not always that simple. You may have previous back issues unrelated to pregnancy or a job that requires you to be on your feet for long periods of time. Or, like workers who wear back braces for jobs requiring heavy lifting, sometimes you just need some extra protection and support to prevent muscle strain or fatigue.

A maternity support belt, like the Mommy Knows Best Ultra-Comfortable Maternity Support Belt, can help in maintaining your back health, but in a way specially designed for the needs of pregnant women.

The Maternity Belt is lightweight (5 ounces) and constructed from soft, breathable material to make it comfortable enough to wear every day under your clothing without limiting your movement.

The stretchable belt wraps around your belly and can be adjusted throughout your pregnancy to relieve pressure on your back. With multilayered Velcro straps, you can fasten the support using the first strap and then adjust the fit with the two other straps. The belt comes in two sizes: medium (45 inches x 8 inches) and large (54 inches by 9 inches).

A great benefit to the Maternity Belt is that it also provides great back support immediately after pregnancy too. We don’t always think about the wear and tear pregnancy and giving birth can have. The support belt can not only help promote proper spinal alignment post-pregnancy, but it also can help ease the transition of your uterus as it shrinks back to normal.