Maternity and Nursing Wear

[Peblet]

Afternoon Ladies,

I wanted to ask for your help. I'm currently undertaking a bit of market research on the lack of maternity/nursing clothes on the high street.

I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant and have found it a bit of a struggle to find quality, affordable clothes that I feel good in since being pregnant and the majority of the clothes I have bought online have been sent back.

My attitude before becoming pregnant and in early pregnancy was that spending money on maternity clothes was a waste of money but quickly learnt that when you wear something that fits your 'new' body you can feel really good!

I would really appreciate if you took the time to answer a few questions, I have attached the link below. There is no option to comment on the survey but I would love to hear your experiences and opinions on this?

www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/X28YVXP

Thank you

I would argue that nursing clothing is completely useless. Everything I have ever tried for this purpose has been ugly and awkward fitting (usually because they have an extra layer inside the top), especially on a curvier person. There are probably some very expensive specialist places you can order from, but everything I've seen would still look frumpy/middle-aged on a plus-size real woman, as that's what it looks like on the models too! Instead, I just use normal flowier/longer tops which I can just whip up to pop baby on for a feed. Sometimes I wear a vest top underneath to conceal belly, but most of the time I'm in leggings/something higher waisted and baby's head and body conceal it all anyway.

Nursing bras are a bit more mandatory and tbh, I gave up pretty quickly trying to find a proper bra. All my nursing bras are cheap and functional for a larger bust-size, but not particularly flattering (not that I care in the slightest - I have 2 under 3 now and I literally could not give a flying hoot what I look like right now!) Most nursing bras I got from Mark's and Sparks I think and we just cheap non-wired ones. Some of my favourite bras during pregnancy/nursing were not even proper nursing bras, just super cheap XL pull-on bras from Asda - super soft and comfortable, easy to just pop up over my boobs when feeding at night or home alone.

Part of the con of maternity/nursing fashion is making us all believe we need to wear something different and then putting a mark up on everything labelled as "maternity/nursing" wear! Not selling it in shops is also another way to discourage us - don't know about other people, but if I order things online that are difficult to return, I'm far less likely to bother sending them back and will sometimes just settle even if it doesn't suit me/fit perfectly. This is the case for a lot of maternity wear as you can't try on in shops, you can't return "special" clothes orders to the shops in a lot of cases and I often find postal returns a pain).

Thanks for the survey- answered!
I’ve been moaning about this to everyone!
I’ve had some success with H&M and New Look but as others have said sizing has not always been perfect but as it’s such a hassle to send stuff back I’ve kept it anyway.
I’ve particularly found nightwear difficult- I ended up buying M&S large jammies and I’m
normally a size 10, but my 33 week bump sticks out the bottom of them now. In the hot weather I made an emergency trip to a big Tesco for nighties and they had NO maternity stuff whatsoever. Bought bigger sizes but they just didn’t accommodate my bump (and were sooooo short!). It does make such a big difference to how you feel if you can get some pretty things. My best purchases have been a Seraphime coat that has a zip out panel for baby in a carrier and a hoodie from NatalActive that has nursing zips for later. I agree about New Look dresses, the jersey ones really bobble after one wash. There’s definitely a gap in the market for good quality basics!

check out- I ordered a prepacked bag from this company and the maternity Pj’s are really comfortable.
precious-delivery.com/product/nursingpyjamas/

Evening guys,

Apologies for the late reply, it wasn’t showing new comments for some reason.

Thank you for completing the survey, some really useful feedback!

@Shootingstar11 I love natal active and great that you can wear postpartum too, then you don’t mind spending a bit more.

Agree with a pp that the whole concept of maternity/nursing wear in one is bonkers and unflattering. I lost the baby weight but still would have liked decent nursing wear - just don't need anything with loads of extra room around the tummy.

Have found it a nightmare, especially jeans - still searching for just one decent pair. Just find it difficult to get anything in my style because the selection is so limited.

Bought 2 pairs of topshop maternity jeans on ebay after seeing them recommended on here - both were horrifically badly fitting. Trying to find an occasion dress for a friend's wedding next month was a nightmare also but eventually found a non-maternity stretchy maxi dress that will do the job.

Actually have found Shein the best so far, most stuff I got there has been flattering. Got a couple of going out tops that are nice and flowy and actually make me look a good bit smaller than I am. Got a few summer dresses and good maternity leggings there too. Their jeans were also useless unfortunately.

The only thing I would say is the survey doesn’t address what exactly my biggest frustration is, which is utter lack of plus size maternity clothing. I’ve been able to buy some leggings and a handful of other things but trying to find a suitable dress for a wedding I am due to attend or fashionable clothing has been soul destroying. It’s as if anyone over a size 18/20 isn’t allowed to be pregnant. I really needed a thinner waterproof coat to walk the dog on, but the one I found turned out to be out of stock so the order was cancelled and I was just having to to walk him in coats I couldn’t fasten. The cost is astronomical too. I don’t like physical stores anyway as I hate shopping so I wouldn’t even mind if it was online only, I just want some clothes to cater to a massive section of the pregnancy demographic.

Thank you for taking the time to complete

@MikeWozniaksGloriousTache That’s a really good point! I think plus sizes is a problem in most shops anyway isn’t it, pregnant or not.

I only need maternity clothes during lockdown 1, so just made do with a second hand pair of jeans/shorts and my partners shirts. Postpartum I had nightmares with nursing bras, only really got that sorted last month (DD is 11 months) when M&S opened for fittings. I bought a couple of nursing tops from Jojo, but to be honest I find them much less discreet than just wearing my own clothes.