Matalan Maternity Wear Drama...

[Teaspoon101]

Hello!
This is my 1st post on here, i've been more of a viewer than a do-er! But i'd really appreciate some opinions...

Yesterday afternoon my husband and i went along to Matalan, i am 22 weeks pregnant and have expanded A LOT!! Something which i've been trying to get my head around, i am very happy to be pregnant but having spent most of my adult life on a 'diet' it's odd to be gaining weight with no control of it!

My search for affordable maternity jeans, not so happy...

I asked a member of staff where the maternity trousers were, she didn't know asked me to follow her while she asked a second member of staff. Fine, no problem so far; Second member of staff didn't know either so First member of staff carried on walking round the store, i followed and we happened upon Third member of staff. First member of staff asked Third member of staff, on my behalf, where the maternity section was...
Third member of staff then looked me up and down and asked me to follow her round the corner to 'Curve' section, where she said i might find something and walked off.

After looking at the Curve section for a minute i realised it is their plus sized section, with not one item of maternity wear in it at all.

Am i being riddiculous to feel so shitty about this?

It made me feel really awful about myself. I phoned my husband, who had gone to have a look in the blokes bit, held back tears and asked him if we could leave...

We left and i've felt really crap about myself since.

Am i being over sensitive?

Sorry my 1st post has been a whingeing one.

Thanks for reading x

[wowbutter]

Yes, yes you are.
Hardly any shops stock maternity, it sucks. You got passed through 3 people, the message got confused, and to be fair, larger sizes do fit pregnant women.
I think your food and body issues are clouding a non incident.

Matalan do some maternity stuff online, its quite bad. Next stuff fits me well, and H&M is nice maternity too. Shop online, get it delivered, try it on and cry in the comfort of your own home.

Have you spoken to anyone about how you feel 'losing control' of your body?

[EB123]

I think YABU although the staff should be more informed about the stock they carry.

[EdmundCleverClogs]

To be honest, Matalan isn’t where I think of looking for maternity clothes. Do they actually do them? I wouldn’t have become upset about it, honestly she probably thought she was helping! A friend of mine gave me a load of her old size 18 tops (I’m usually 12-14) during my last pregnancy and they were actually useful, so the shop assistant wasn’t ‘wrong’ as such.

What specifically made you feel ‘like crap about yourself’? It’s a rather unusual reaction, or do you feel she was making some sort of unsaid comment about you?

[BaronessBomburst]

I bought most of my maternity wear from a plus-size shop because it was more stylish!
The staff were useless and poorly trained; presumably Matalan is not big on maternity wear. It really wasn't any kind of dig at you.

[DoJo]

I'm not sure exactly what you feel shitty about? That the staff didn't know that they didn't have any maternity wear? That they suggested their plus sized section as an alternative? Or that you wasted a trip? There simply isn't enough demand for maternity wear for most shops to bother having much (if any) in store and many larger clothing chains have very little anyway. It's a pain when you need the clothes, but not really something worth crying about!

[PenelopeStoppit]

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I understand why you are sensitive about this but I don't think you need be. They were incompetent and covered it up by leading you to clothes they thought might do. I had this struggle recently and found JoJo Maman Bebe denim maternity dungarees great from the start to end of pregnancy. I also got two pairs of their leggings in navy and black and combined with loose t-shirts from H&M and Top Shop was sorted for everyday pregnancy wear.

I have struggled to keep weight off over the years and was worried having a baby would knock my body confidence but four months postpartum and I am nearly back to pre-pegnancy weight- about 8kg to go. Walking everyday and breastfeeding has helped me along with sensibleish eating.

[NapQueen]

Did you check in advance that they stock it? Pretty crap of the staff not to know and be able to say "sorry we do not stock instore but you can order to store online".

[AndWhat]

In my local matalan the maternity is next to the curve range, there are no signs or obvious separation between the ranges it's a case of checking the labels. I assume they keep the 'specialist' ranges all together in the 1 section

[tealandteal]

I know exactly what you mean, I wanted to treat myself to some nice maternity clothes and nowhere on the high street had any! It made me feel like crying which is completely irrational. Next have a good range online and I got some good bf tops from happy mama boutique, they do maternity as well I think

[StatueInTheSky]

it's going to be a long nine months for you if this makes you feel so shitty

I managed three pregnancies with, I think, a couple of maternity tops and the rest was all just bigger versions of normal stuff, plus a pair of men's braces for that last 4 weeks when bugger all will stay up...they are fabulous for keeping leggings up! Very Cannon and Ball!

As PP have said, order stuff online if you feel you must have maternity stuff, but don't make yourself miserable over nothing!

[Yahdayah]

Congratulations! I too am struggling with the weight gain, so I totally get it and would also feel a bit upset.

I’ve not had much luck looking in shops for maternity wear, I can definitely recommend the ASOS, New Look and H&M online maternity ranges. I end up ordering two sizes most times and returning the ones I don’t need, all seem to be really great with returns.

[Figgygal]

Go online very few shops stock it
Shit but that's the truth

[JessieMcJessie]

I’m so sorry you equate being pregnant with getting fat. A previous poster put it better than I can, but you are letting body image issues cloud your judgment. Being pregnant is an amazing thing and it’s impossible to do it without getting too big for normal clothes. As others have said, maternity wear is mostly online these days. I found Dorothy Perkins jeans great (and may or may not still have been wearing them when my son was 10 months old 😳) . If you can stretch to it financially, a lovely dress from Seraphine or similar might make you feel better for the Christmas party season. Please please try to enjoy your pregnancy and don’t give another thought to feeling big. You’ve got a human inside you! All the best for the next 18 weeks!

[JessieMcJessie]

I second ASOS, huge range and easy to return if they don’t fit or suit.

[purplechoc]

Sorry they didn’t just tell you they don’t do maternity!

I’ve found it a nightmare finding maternity clothes that fit but have managed to find 2 pairs of really comfy maternity jeans from Asda online. I had looked at H&M, new look etc before but their ranges are so small and couldn’t find anything that fitted nicely. H&M are good for basic maternity tops though.

[Teaspoon101]

Thanks ladies!
I suppose i was being a bit over sensitive.
I'll check out some of your suggestions x

[Middlenamehelp20]

I’m expecting dc2 now and have found eBay to be one of the best places for cheap maternity wear.

It is a bit rubbish that so few high street shops have clothes to try on / buy in store, but actually, I’m glad in a way as I don’t want to buy too much! I didn’t wear mine for long after dc1. I did have to buy some new clothes in a size up though - that’s to be blamed on my Nutella habit when dc1 was tiny, rather than pregnancy though .

[eastlondoner]

I can definitely recommend Gap for maternity jeans... they were the best thing ever and they have lots of different fits and panel options.

[ChocolateButton15]

New look, boohoo, asos, next have really nice maternity clothes online. New look often have sales/discounts as well. Shops don't tend to stock maternity stuff in store it's basically all online now.

[HellonHeels]

Gap and Topshop both do maternity ranges - have a look online.

[NooNooHead]

When I was pregnant with DD, the best maternity wear I had was Red Herring in Debenhams and the range at Peacocks was great and affordable too. I think JoJo Bebe Maman (sorry if that is totally wrong!) is pretty good too, but more expensive.

I think you are being v oversensitive though... you will get bigger in pregnancy but it’s all for a great reason! 😊😜

[JessieMcJessie]

Yes, Red Herring is great and one of the few where they do have a reasonable selection to try on in store.

[ClareB83]

I totally understand why you were upset. I’ve spent most of my life overweight and the last couple of years really did well and lost loads of weight. Now it’s going back on and there’s not much I can (or should) do about it.

It’s all well and good people saying don’t think about it but 1) there’s a bit trickier when your midwife weighs you and tells you not to eat for two and 2) feelings aren’t always rational especially when it comes to weight.

Last night I asked my fiancé to take a picture of my newly forming bump and then cried because it just looks like a fat belly at the moment. Rational? No. But he understood and sympathised.

[Sherbet38]

Ordering online and sending back what you don't want is definitely the way to go.

I like the Red Herring range in Debenhams, Next and New Look. I've had some bargains in the Asda sale, skinny maternity jeans for £6. I also like picking bits up on eBay, maternity clothes aren't worn for long so tend to be in good condition.