Experts warned that abdominal binders, elasticized wraps that are worn around the lower part of the torso to support the abdomen, may actually threaten women’s lives.

Royal College of Midwives (RCM) was reported saying that abdominal binders such as the Cinch are harmful for women.

The makers of the belts claim that these elasticated belts have helped to trim the waists of A-list celebrity mothers, including Angelina Jolie, Gwen Stefani and Minnie Driver.

The Cinch is said to help women look slimmer by helping them lose kilos and cut inches off their waistlines if worn 24 hours a day for six weeks.

The product that costs 85 pounds is supposed to shrink the swollen uterus, compress the stomach muscles and is believed to manage stretch marks.

But a spokeswoman for the RCM said, "It is not safe to wear them just after giving birth. I would not allow it from a medical perspective. A midwife needs to check that a woman’s uterus is going down after birth. Wearing that could hide the fact that a woman’s uterus is not going down and conceal internal bleeding."

A spokesman for the RCM said that the product did not have an official policy.