Patent ID: 8235766

Claim:
A maternity garment comprising: at least one shoulder strap; a belly panel connected with the shoulder strap and including a top panel section disposed toward the at least one shoulder strap and a bottom panel section remote from the at least one shoulder strap; a hip band extending from the belly panel opposite the at least one shoulder strap; two side panels extending from the belly panel between the at least one shoulder strap and the hip band; and a back panel disposed between the two side panels opposite the belly panel; wherein said maternity garment is dimensionally configured to cover the torso of a wearer, extending through the hips, and wherein said maternity garment is made of at least one resiliently stretchable material configured to provide a smoothing effect to the physical appearance of the wearer by compression, and wherein said belly panel is constructed to deliver a multiple degrees of compression at least by configuring said top panel section to provide a first compression and configuring said bottom panel section to provide a second degree of compression that is greater than said first degree of compression.