AIBU to think ANY shops might sell maternity clothes?

[InThisTogether]

Hello all,
Having spent the best part of 7 hours traipsing around the whole of Birmingham city centre (bull ring, high street etc) yesterday, I am very frustrated to have come away with NO maternity clothes whatsoever.
Every shop I went into told me they don't stock them instore (no-one knew why). Mothercare was closed (?). H&M, Primark and New Look who apparently do actually have maternity ranges can only be ordered (and presumably paid for in advance) online and delivered in to store. Marks and Spencer told me I could always try on their non- Maternity clothes to "get a feel for them" (funnily enough, I know what clothes feel like). There is no Jojo in the centre.

After a while I started muttering that I didn't think people in Birmingham must actually have babies at all.
At a time when women may already be feeling unsure or uncomfortable with their changing shape, AIBU to want better options than blindly buying clothes I'm not able to try on until I've paid for, try my luck on unknown internet sites or wear nothing but sacks for the next 4 months?
Please someone stop me from my grumpy moaning...

In desperation I even went to House of Fraser even though I wouldn't have been prepared to pay their prices. When I asked someone if they had maternity clothes she didn't understand what I meant. I mentioned pregnancy and she directed me to the 5th floor. Which is where they have childrenswear which she presumably thought was close enough!

I always used to order from Next and do 'click & collect'. Then I would try them on in the shop and return any I didn't want straight away.

Oh! I remember this from pregnancy. I ended up buying stuff from asos and Asda online

Order online from Vertbaudet.co.uk they have a good maternity range.

Thanks so much all...
That's hilarious Dappled, I'd love the thought of me squeezing this massive bump into baby clothes- I'd have to stitch them all together!
I am so glad I'm not the only one who found this so frustrating- I genuinely can't believe so many shops out there seem oblivious to this money- making opportunity really. Obviously there aren't as many pregnant women out there as I thought though.
I'm going to go on dragon's den with this novel idea!

Thanks so much all...
That's hilarious Dappled, I'd love the thought of me squeezing this massive bump into baby clothes- I'd have to stitch them all together!
I am so glad I'm not the only one who found this so frustrating- I genuinely can't believe so many shops out there seem oblivious to this money- making opportunity really. Obviously there aren't as many pregnant women out there as I thought though.
I'm going to go on dragon's den with this novel idea!

New Look in Walsall and Wolves do maternity, I'm certain of it. Peacocks in Walsall do.

MOst people do wear a lot of normal clothes in pregnancy. Look for long bodied tank tops, leggings, and long tunic dresses and sweaters in stretchy material. Flowy shirts will work for a long time. Get some little jacket that you wouldn't close anyway, a few cardigans, short and long. Anything long and cottony works for tops.

Oh I really struggled with this too, drove me mad (and I'm near Manchester so really thought I should have been able to get something!). Ended up buying loads online and having clothes that I thought were just ok and mediocre rather than ones I actually really liked. So frustrating.

Yes, I bought all mine online. A bit of a pain!

As an aside, I'm always confused by people who say they wore their normal clothes. Are these people who naturally wear very baggy clothes anyway? Did they just have a really small bump? Did they accept that their regular clothes would just get stretched out of shape and not worry too much about it?

Redphone, I didn't wear my normal clothes, I wore normal clothes that I bought specifically for maternity! 😂

I wondered this redphonebox but didn't know if I'd be rude to ask... makes me wonder if I'm a very odd shape!
I have a few things (
Very stretchy) that would fit but not much... that said, I'm already in large sizes pre-pregnancy so there's no 'size-up' room.

I tend to wear a lot of swing dresses and big oversize jumpers so managed with my normal clothes for a while.

I would say though that I'm not surprised maternity ranges aren't carried in store. When you're pregnant It seems like an obvious market and money spinner but in reality I bet most pregnant women buy a handful of maternity clothes and make do with them rather than buying an entire wardrobes worth of clothes. Why would shops give over space to a section where women are only going to buy a few items.