Preserving Pregnancy Memories with Belly Casting
A really fun (and messy!) way to create a pregnancy keepsake is belly casting. Belly casting isn’t difficult to do, with the right preparation and a friend or two to help. You can make a cast of just your belly, or include your belly and your breasts. Some women do one just at the end of their pregnancies, while others do a few over time to show belly growth. However you decide to create your pregnancy memory treasure, here’s the basics on how to do it!
Materials
You could buy a belly casting kit, or find the supplies on your own. You’ll need plaster of paris strips, which you can buy in a medical supply store. Make sure you buy the quick drying variety. You’ll need at least 3 or 4 rolls, each 5 yards in length. Before you use the plaster of paris bandages, cut them into strips of varying lengths, short strips for the breast area, and longer strips to be used for the belly area.
You’ll also need something to smooth onto your body wherever the casting will be. Some people use petroleum jelly, but Teresa Howard, a doula who has helped make over 100 belly casts, recommends using Crisco® food shortening. “And, the unpetroleum jelly is made of castor oil, so I don't recommend it at all,” Teresa warns.
Plastic wrap should be used to protect underwear and that area of the body from the plaster strips. You can either do the cast with or without a bra, though make sure you use a bra that you’re not fond of. The plaster will ruin it.
To avoid getting chilled, use warm water for dipping the plaster strips. You should also make sure the room you’ll be doing the cast in is well heated, since you need to be partially naked during the casting. “The hotter the water,” Teresa says, “the quicker it sets up, if you are using plaster strips.”
Getting Started
Before you start, make sure you have everything you need. If someone will be taking pictures or video, for example, make sure it’s there. The plaster strips dry quickly, and you don’t want your casting helpers to be running around for things.
You’ll want a comfortable chair or place on the floor to sit. While you could make the cast in a standing position, this isn’t recommended. You’d need to stand a very long time, which can be difficult, especially with the weight of the cast. Be sure to put something underneath your work area and on the chair. Towels work, as would a plastic sheet or disposable table cloth.
As mentioned, you’ll need at least one friend to help with the casting. Sometimes doulas offer belly casting, so be sure to ask. If your husband is interested in helping, the belly casting can become an intimate moment between the two of you. Whoever you ask to help, make sure it’s someone you feel comfortable being around, since you’re practically naked during the casting and may feel vulnerable.
It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to make the cast, so use the bathroom before you get started. Usually women make the belly cast when they are about 36-39 weeks pregnant. Hourly bathroom trips are common at this stage of pregnancy, as I’m sure you know!
Have the plaster of paris strips laid out, in piles according to size (short and long ones), a basin of warm water (that should also be on top of a towel or plastic sheet, to protect the floor from the plaster powder and mess), and you’re ready to begin!
Making the Cast
You’ll need to be undressed, with the exception of some cheap underwear (covered in plastic wrap). As mentioned above, you could wear a bra, or make the cast without a bra. If you wear a bra during casting, the lines of the underwear will show through, and the cast won’t be as smooth and detailed in that area. But it’s completely up to you. Do what makes you feel comfortable.
After you visit the bathroom, figure out what position you want to be in for the casting, preferably a sitting pose. You can include your hands in the cast by placing your hands on your belly. Make sure your fingers are spread wide apart, so that it’ll be clear in the cast that these are your hands, and not undefined bumps.
Have your casting partner slather every part of your body where the plaster cast will be made with the Crisco® food shortening, or petroleum jelly. If you’re including the hands, make sure they get covered with lubricant, too. Also make sure you’ve protected you’re pubic area with plastic wrap – you don’t want hair getting pulled out with the cast. Ouch!
After that, your casting helpers should dip one strip at a time into the warm water. As they pull the strips from the basin of water, they should hold them taut, to avoid twisting and bunching, and with two fingers, squeeze out the excess water. Each strip is placed and smoothed firmly onto the area being cast. Short strips should be used for the breast area, and longer strips for the belly. They will need to work quickly, but carefully, since the material dries fast.
Your casting helpers will want to lay three or four layers of plaster strips, all in different directions, making sure there are no holes or empty spaces. Criss-cross the strips, place them horizontally, vertically, and diagonally -- to give the cast more strength.
It’s really important that you don’t move during the casting. “Don't laugh hard until it is good and dry, or it may pop off and squish,” advises Kelly Kilmer of New York, who recently made a belly cast. “I laughed very hard at the end, and it popped off, but was hard enough to set, so it was OK.”
Once you’re satisfied with the thickness of the cast, wait until the cast “tells” you it’s finished. The cast will feel warm, heavy, and start to pop off, or be easily pulled off. This takes about 5-10 minutes after you finish laying the strips. Your casting partners should very carefully help take the cast off once it’s hardened, and place it in a safe place. It’s still weak and won’t be really hard for at least 48 hours, so until then, you may want to put some crinkled newspaper in the belly area, to help support and avoid it from caving in before it dries. And don’t place the cast belly down.
Creative Ideas for Your Belly Cast
So, now what? After your cast has had time to dry over several days, you may want to carefully sand the rough edges. Then, if you like, you can apply a couple layers of Gesso, an acrylic paint primmer available in craft or art stores, to the entire cast. After that dries, you can either leave the cast as is, or decorate it!
“I gesso it after it has cured for at least a week,” explains Teresa Howard, doula and belly casting expert. “Then, I sand it with a piece of wire screen, and then, I gesso it twice. Then, it is ready to be painted.
“Although,” Teresa continues, “I prefer to paper it with raw paper, and use Modge Podge to seal it in. You can use matte or gloss depending on the finish you want. I then make two small holes on both sides that a ribbon can go through, and you can hang the cast.”
Another neat idea is to write a message to your unborn baby and glue it to the inside of the cast. Or, even better, imbed it into the cast as you make it! “Before we started,” Kelly says, “my one friend cut out a heart and had me write a message to my baby to put under a layer of the strips, to always be a part of the cast.”
Some women make the cast a week before their baby shower or their Blessingsway Ceremony, and ask guests to help decorate or sign the cast. “At my Blessingway last pregnancy, we decorated it with markers, pens, messages, [and] stickers,” explains Kelly. “My kids got involved as well. This is my fourth baby, and I've found it to be such a fun thing to do, to include my kids in the pregnancy. They love to feel the baby move, so having this solid reminder for them of what it was like to live with a pregnant mama (not the grumpy bits, but the fun bits!) is such a neat thing.”
Whether you decide to leave it as is, paint it yourself, or make it a family or baby shower decorating project, you’ll always treasure your belly cast. Have fun!