A belly cast is a three-dimensional

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

sculpture of a woman's pregnant abdomen as a keepsake of her

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ...

. It can also be known as a belly mask, pregnancy belly cast, a pregnant plaster cast, or prenatal cast. Belly casts are most often made toward the end of the third trimester of pregnancy, though a series of casts may also be made during the pregnancy. They are made by preparing the skin with a coating of

Vaseline Vaseline ()Also pronounced with the main stress on the last syllable . is an American brand of petroleum jelly-based products owned by transnational company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soap ...

or a similar lubricant and adding strips of wet plaster gauze over the abdomen to make the cast. Some women also cast their breasts, arms, hands and thighs into a full

torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical term for the central part, or the core, of the body of many animals (including humans), from which the head, neck, limbs, tail and other appendages extend. The tetrapod torso — including that of a human ...

sculpture. The plaster sets in about 20–30 minutes but some fast-setting strips set in five minutes. Once set, the cast is gently removed by the mother using a wriggling motion. It takes one or two days for the cast to dry completely.

Gesso Gesso (; " chalk", from the la, gypsum, from el, γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates ...

can be painted onto the mask after drying to stop it absorbing moisture from the air. Gesso also works as a surface primer for painting and preserving it. The cast can be decorated with any number of finishes or designs including the baby's hand and foot prints, or left in its natural state. Most popular decorations include painting and

decoupage ''Decoupage'' or ''découpage'' (; ) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf, and other decorative elements. Commonly, an object like a small box or an it ...

, while some belly casts are mosaicked.

References

External links

Examples Of Belly CastsThe Best Comforting Partner In Pregnancy: Massage Chair
Human pregnancy {{Art-technique-stub