Nursing Apparel...A Natural

By Jean L. Hoelscher

Clothes designed for breastfeeding mothers are a natural extension for any maternity store. As each pregnant woman becomes a real life mother, she develops a new set of clothing needs. She now needs clothes which will accommodate her desire to breastfeed her baby any time and any place. Perhaps she will want clothes that make it easier to pump her breastmilk if she is returning to work. Maternity stores can be in the forefront of offering these practical fashions.

Currently most nursingwear is purchased through a thriving mail order marketplace with many mothers reporting they find little or no breastfeeding fashions in their local stores. By carrying a nursingwear inventory, a store will continue its client contacts for many months beyond the baby's birth. Some mothers even nurse the first baby into and throughout the next pregnancy. Some mothers "tandem nurse," a term for nursing siblings who are not twins.

In 1998, the American Academy of Pediatrics revised its recommendations on breastfeeding, urging new mothers to breastfeed for at least 12 months and longer whenever possible. As research continues to uncover the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby, and as more doctors and health practitioners learn how to counsel nursing mothers, the absolute number of nursing mothers along with the duration of their breastfeeding experience are both likely to expand.

Breastfeeding saves mothers money not only on the daily expense of purchasing formula but also on the less direct costs of health care with less illness and fewer doctor visits for the breastfed baby. These savings can translate into money which can be spent in a more positive manner of reinforcing the mother's new life-style. Her commitment to breastfeeding is often shown in a concrete way by choosing clothes which will work with her needs and not against them.

When mothers will be nursing week after week, and month after month, they need clothes that are convenient and practical and in which they no longer look pregnant! In response to this need, the nursingwear market has been growing. There are now more designers and more possible suppliers of breastfeeding clothes than there were just a few years ago. When the trade organization the Association For Breastfeeding Fashions was founded in 1987, there were only six companies that became active members. In the years following, a total of 59 companies joined the AFBF to promote their designs created especially for nursing mothers.

Today there is a greater variety of nursing fashions than ever before and new companies join the marketplace each year. We now have clothes designed for casual, at-home wear or for running errands. Clothes can be found for office work and professional meetings. We've had nursing nightgowns and nursing bras for many years, but these items too have improved in design and variety. We have postpartum designs and clothes for the many long-term nursing mothers who breastfeed beyond the minimum recommendation of the baby's first year. There are patterns for sewing one's own nursingwear (or for having it sewn), and there are clothes sewn by custom crafters.

Many types of products contribute to the nursing mother market. Breastpumps for sale or rent, nursing footstools, cover-up shawls or bibs, baby carrying slings, and other items can be useful. However, nursing fashions constitute the largest aspect of the nursing mother market. Every mother may not need or even want a breastpump or a footstool, but every mother will be wearing clothes during the time she is breastfeeding! When a woman of childbearing age contemplates having one or more children which she breastfeeds for one or more years, the usefulness of a nursingwear wardrobe begins to make good economic sense. The longer she breastfeeds, the more money she saves, and clothes that help her breastfeed help her save money and enjoy better health for her baby and for herself.

With all the positives that breastfeeding has going for it, the personnel at maternity shops can approach a customer's purchase of nursing fashions and helpful accessories knowing that they are truly putting the mother and baby first.

For maternity stores looking to extend their customer base, breastfeeding fashions hold good potential for added profits. A nice additional aspect is that you are serving your customers in a positive manner which will benefit them and their babies. This trend in the growth of the nursingwear market is bound to continue as breastfeeding promotion increases and professional support grows. It's a trend not to be missed!

Jean Hoelscher is a breastfeeding fashions and marketing consultant. Since 1987, she has served as the Executive Director of the Association For Breastfeeding Fashions. Jean was a La Leche League Leader for ten years. She lives in Sunland, California with her husband and two sons.

Nursing Apparel Sources
Below is a list of companies that carry nursing apparel. You may also find additional sources by looking at the advertisers in such magazines as La Leche League's New Beginnings, Mothering, and the Compleat Mother (published out of Canada). Some sell only by retail, but many are interested in enlarging their wholesale markets. The Association For Breastfeeding Fashions can help stores find wholesale suppliers too: 818-352-0697

• Baby Essentials-P.O. Box 1862, Wake Forest, NC 27588-1862, 919-562-0044
• BestFed Fashions-P.O. Box 4378, Sunland, CA 91041, 818-352-0697
• Bravado Designs-705 Pape Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4K 3S6, 416-466-8652
• California Diversified Manufacturing (CDM)-P.O. Box 5191, San Clemente, CA 92674, 949-361-1089
• Christina USA-1411 Broadway, 23rd Fl.,New York, NY 10018, 212-391-0710
• Elizabeth Lee Perry Designs-P.O. Box 696, Blue Bell, UT 84007, 435-454-3350
• FeeLines/Milk Diapers-P.O. Box 961, Camas, WA 98607, 800-929-0218
• Japanese Weekend-500 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94102, 415-989-6667
• Laura's Closet-P.O. Box 97, Staughton, WI 53589-0097, 888-766-0303
• Leading Lady-24050 Commerce Park, Beachwood, OH 44122, 800-321-4804
• Mama Shark's Swimwear-933 Bellevue Avenue, South Bend, IN 46615, 219-289-1248
• Medela-4610 Prime Parkway, McHenry, IL 60050, 815-363-1166
• Melinda Gros Designs-320 Riverside, New York, NY 0025, 212-864-1363
• Nature's Love Nursing Wear-2209 Via Gavilan, San Clemente, CA 92673, 949-498-1778
• Olga Maternity-7915 Haskell Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91409, 818-782-7568
• Q.T. Foundations-385 Chestnut Street, Norwood, NJ 07648, 201-384-7000