Your maternity belly bar will, most likely, be made from either PTFE or Bioflex.
PTFE/Bioflex body jewellery is flexible, gentle and ideal for wearing during pregnancy and it’s easy to reduce the length to get the best fit for you. Here’s our guide to shortening your PTFE or Bioflex pregnancy belly bar or barbell.
REMEMBER – you can always cut off a little more if you don’t get it right the first time, (but you can’t add it back on!)
Straight Pregnancy Belly Bar or Barbell
1. Decide how long you want the finished length to be. This is measured as ball-to-ball distance as shown in Fig 3.
If your PTFE/Bioflex bar is for wearing during your pregnancy, for the most comfortable fit, we suggest you wear it a minimum of 4mm longer, so just add that to the finished length you are aiming for.
2. In this example we are making a 15mm long barbell (see Fig. 3) we then add 5mm to this to compensate for the parts of the shaft that will disappear inside the balls (2.5mm inside each ball).
This gives us a total length of 20mm where we will cut our bar (see Fig 2a).
3. Next cut a tiny corner out from the end using sharp scissors as per Fig 2b. This makes threading the balls on easier. Take care not to shorten the shaft, only cut a little corner out.
4. Finally thread the balls on. Acrylic balls can sometimes be a little fiddly so a good tip is to first screw on a metal ball, this will cut the thread in the PTFE shaft and you will then be able to screw on your acrylic balls with ease.
When screwing on your acrylic balls, please ensure you don’t over-tighten, as this could cause them to split.
Some shafts are supplied straight but can be bent easily by hand and will retain this curve. See below for how long to cut your PTFE shaft if you want a bent shaft (banana/belly bar).
Bent Pregnancy Belly Bar or Banana
1. Decide what length you want the PTFE or Bioflex Banana to be when complete. This is measured as ball-to-ball distance as shown in Fig 4.
2. In this example we are making a 12mm long belly bar/banana (see Fig 4) we then add 8mm to this length. 5mm of this is to compensate for the parts of the shaft that will disappear inside the balls (2.5mm inside each ball).
The additional 3mm is to compensate for the bend we will make in our finished bar. This gives us a total length of 20mm where we will cut our bar (see Fig 2a).
3. As above.
4. As above.
5. Finally bend to shape. The PTFE is very flexible, so over-bend it and it will settle back in a better position for you. You will not break it! Your PTFE banana should now look like Fig. 4.
For more information on what will happen to your navel piercing during pregnancy check out our blog.