Nubian Skin has developed, in partnership with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, the UK's first softie covers to cater for women of colour. The pilot was funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. This news comes a year after Nubian Skin launched its breast cancer awareness campaign in October 2021.
A softie is a lightweight fabric prosthesis that women with breast cancer are often provided after a mastectomy to wear in their bra. While some women go on to use a permanent silicon prosthesis, many women continue to wear a softie throughout their lives.
Breast Cancer Softies in 4 dark nude tones for patients of colour
Women of colour, particularly in Black and Asian communities often have lower breast cancer awareness and as a result, black women are diagnosed with more advanced breast cancers. Providing women who have undergone a mastectomy with appropriately coloured prosthesis goes a long way to improve their care.
Following feedback from patients, Natalie Johnson, a Breast and Oncoplastic Surgeon at The Royal Marsden and Sarah Adomah, Lead Breast Clinical Nurse Specialist at the hospital, approached Nubian Skin to create softies in their four signature colours to help improve post-operative care for women of colour. Given their expertise in diverse, skin-tone lingerie, Nubian Skin was happy to take on the challenge of developing a new product outside of their usual remit.
The project was funded by the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The Royal Marsden together with its academic partner, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), is the largest and most comprehensive cancer centre in Europe.
Natalie Johnson & Sarah Adomah of The Royal Marsden with the Softies
Ade Hassan, MBE, the founder of Nubian skin, said: “Breast cancer is a disease that has affected my family and family members of the Nubian Skin team, so when I was approached by Natalie about this project, I knew instantly that I wanted to help in any way that I could. It has been an honour for Nubian Skin to work with The Royal Marsden to create these softies, and to help in a small way in the recovery of the women who are dealing with an often life-changing diagnosis”.
Ade Hassan, MBE, Nubian Skin Founder
Natalie Johnson said: “We are extremely grateful to our partner Nubian Skin for making this range a reality and to The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity for supporting this project. We’ve just produced our first batch of inclusive softies which are being issued to breast cancer patients following surgery at The Royal Marsden. We hope this range, which is a true representation of patient-centred care, will eventually be distributed in all cancer centres in the UK.”
Sarah Adomah said: “For many women, having a mastectomy is incredibly traumatic and being given a softie in an inappropriate skin tone can make the experience even more upsetting. Ensuring that all breast cancer patients are given a softie that’s right for them is vital and I’m so proud to have helped bridge this gap in care.”
Breast Cancer Softie (Cinnamon), inserted into Nubian Skin's T-Shirt Bra (Cinnamon)
The softies are currently available to Royal Marsden patients, but Nubian Skin plans to make them available to individuals and medical institutions in the near future.
