Before we built anything, we talked to women. This is what we heard.
Everyone prepares you for pregnancy. The apps, the books, the unsolicited advice — it all centres on the nine months. What happens in the three months after the baby arrives is treated like a footnote.
It isn't a footnote. It's one of the most physically and emotionally demanding periods of a woman's life, and almost nobody talks about it honestly.
What your body is actually doing The fourth trimester — the first twelve weeks postpartum — is when your body is doing the work of recovery. If you delivered vaginally, your pelvic floor is healing. If you had a C-section, you're recovering from major abdominal surgery while simultaneously feeding a newborn. Your hormones are shifting dramatically. Your hair might be falling out. Your feet might still be swollen. Your belly doesn't just spring back — it takes weeks, sometimes months, for the uterus to contract and the abdominal muscles to begin to knit back together.
None of this is abnormal. All of it is under-discussed.
The wardrobe problem nobody mentions Your maternity clothes feel like they belong to the chapter you just closed. Your pre-pregnancy clothes don't fit yet. And you're too tired and too busy to think about either. This is not a trivial problem — nearly 90% of new moms in India continue to wear maternity bottoms after delivery, not because they haven't thought about it, but because those are the clothes that actually fit and feel comfortable on a body that's still changing.
The areas that are hardest to fit postpartum, according to women we spoke to: belly and bust first, waist and hips second. These are the exact areas that change most unpredictably in the fourth trimester. Standard sizing doesn't account for this. Most postpartum clothing doesn't either.
What you actually need Softness against sensitive skin. No waistbands that compress or dig in. Feeding access that works quickly, one-handed, without undressing. Pieces that can go from a night feed at 3am to a paediatrician appointment at 11am without a wardrobe change.
This is not an aspirational list. It's a functional one. And it's almost entirely unmet by what's available in the market.
The other thing nobody tells you How much you'll still want to feel like yourself. The fourth trimester is relentless, but there are moments — a shower, a slow morning, a day when the baby sleeps long enough — when you want to put something on that makes you feel human again. That feeling is not vanity. It is a small, necessary act of self-recognition in a period when everything is oriented toward the new person who arrived.
be imli is designed for both chapters — the pregnancy and the one that comes right after. The overbelly fits work postpartum. The feeding access is already there. The fabrics are soft enough for a body that's still healing.
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