When Your Body Changes but Your Scrubs Don't

Here is something scrub brands sell around but rarely say out loud. Your body is not going to stay one size for your whole career. Weight goes up and down. Pregnancy and postpartum change things, sometimes permanently. Night shift, stress, age, medication, all of it moves the number. And every time it moves, you are standing in front of a closet half-full of scrubs that no longer fit.

This is not a failure. It is just what a long career in a physical job looks like. Here is how to carry a scrub wardrobe through it without rebuying everything each time.

Why "just buy your size" is not the whole answer

Buying your current size is fine until your size changes, which it will. The more useful question is how to build a rotation that flexes a little, and how to handle the in-between stretches when nothing fits quite right.

Buy in a way that survives a size change

• Separates, not locked sets. When tops and pants are sold separately, a change to one half does not write off the other. If your waist changes but your shoulders do not, you replace pants, not a whole set.
• Some stretch in the fabric. A real four-way-stretch knit covers a few pounds in either direction without looking wrong. A stiff woven fabric forgives nothing.
• A forgiving waistband. A wide, soft, stretchy waistband handles a fluctuating midsection far better than a fixed one.

The in-between period

When you are between sizes, the honest move is to not over-invest. Buy one or two sets in the size you are now, not seven. Wear them, see if your body settles, and complete the rotation once it does. Buying a full rotation mid-change is how a closet fills with scrubs you wore twice.

Postpartum is its own thing

Returning from maternity leave is the size change people are least prepared for, because the postpartum body is often not the pre-pregnancy body and is still changing. Be patient and buy small. Size for the body you have now, in a stretchy fabric, and expect to adjust again later. If you are still pregnant, our maternity scrubs guide covers that stretch.

What to do with the scrubs that no longer fit

Do not let them guilt you from the closet. If they are in good shape, donate them, since nursing students and new grads often need affordable scrubs. Keeping a closet of clothes that do not fit just makes getting dressed harder, every single morning.

How Eipnare fits this

This is a real reason we sell tops and pants separately, in around 22 colors, in a four-way-stretch fabric. It is not only about fitting two different halves of your body today. It is about a wardrobe you can adjust one piece at a time as your body moves over the years, instead of replacing whole sets each time. See the separates here.

FAQ

My scrubs don't fit after a weight change. Do I need to replace everything?

Not if you bought separates. Replace only the half that changed. A stretchy fabric also covers a few pounds either way without needing a new size.

What size scrubs should I buy if my weight fluctuates?

Buy for the body you have now, in a four-way-stretch fabric with a forgiving waistband, and buy only one or two sets until your size settles.

What should I do with scrubs that no longer fit me?

Donate them if they are in good condition. Nursing students and new grads can use them. Keeping unwearable scrubs just clutters your closet.

Read next

• The 12 things nurses keep complaining about on Reddit
• Why standard scrubs don't fit curvy, petite, or tall nurses
• Maternity scrubs: a practical guide for pregnant nurses

Edited by Hedy Nie, COO of Eipnare. Connect on LinkedIn.