Nursing mother Patricia Bitaxi wears Boob brand's organic-cotton Ballerina top ($98 through www.evymama.ca) while holding newborn son Bastien in Toronto's Clarence Square park this week.
Soon after my first child was born, a common scene would be repeated in my life: I would be in a coffee shop having a much-needed latte while my baby would try to have me - without success. My clothes, as was typical in those days, were all wrong for breastfeeding, concealing the breast rather than easily revealing it.
So I'd invariably have to yank up my top, hiding the strip show behind a suffocating blanket that I held pinned under my chin until my neck muscles seized up.
My baby would snort and sputter, then bawl. I'd feel like following suit.
At the beginning of the last decade, formerly frumpy maternity wear suddenly became got glammed up - became sexy even - as spotting the celebrity "bump" became a favourite pastime of tabloid editors and star watchers. There was Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow, Elizabeth Hurley. All made pregnancy chic. But no one - least of all the fashion industry - seemed to care what they were wearing after their babies were born. This was probably because nursing wear and style were mutually exclusive, as Britt Pegan of Ottawa began to appreciate after she gave birth to her first child nine years ago.
"I liked fashion and I wanted to breastfeed, but it seemed an oxymoron," she recalls. "So I started investigating if any stylish breastfeeding wear was available in Canada and found there was practically nothing."
The dearth gave Pegan an idea: Not much later, the former actress launched an online nursing wear company called Milkface (www.milkface.com). Focusing on stylish breastfeeding-friendly fashion, the company moved into a bricks-and-mortar store in Ottawa in 2006 and opened a second one last year. Pegan aims to expand the business across Canada this year, opening locations in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
"It is definitely on the rise and really coming up in terms of style," Pegan, now a mother of three, says of the stylish nursing wear category. "There are now several fashion companies making breastfeeding clothing. They suddenly see the demand for it."
Among the hotter labels are Motherwear from the U.S. and HotMilk from New Zealand. The former ( www.motherwear.com) specializes in attractive tops with hidden openings that allow easy access to the breast, while the latter ( www.hotmilklingerie.co.nz) is a lingerie company for the lactating set, offering lacy camisoles, naughty nighties and sexy yet practical bras.
Closer to home, Flirty Maternity, an online boutique in Vancouver, is selling nursing wear this season for the first time in its four-year history. Among its chicer offerings are eco-friendly camisoles and night gowns made from locally sourced bamboo. "It's the new direction," says Cindy Patterson, the owner of Flirty Maternity ( www.flirtymaternity.com). "Women who choose to breastfeed don't want to lose their self-esteem. They want to look glamorous. They want to look good and feel good at the same time."
At Evymama, a new breastfeeding-positive store in Toronto, the fashions range from flouncy flap-equipped dresses and tops to lace-edged bras and floral-patterned slips made with magnetic straps that open and close discreetly and in a snap.
Customer Patricia Bitaxi, who recently gave birth to her third child, says that Evymama ( www.evymama.ca) has been a godsend for her.
"What a difference from when I had my first child seven years ago," says the 28-year-old manager of a chiropractic office. "Then, there was nothing I could wear to breastfeed in public and still feel fashionable. I was constantly swaddled in layers of drapery in order to feed discreetly. I felt as if breastfeeding was somehow taboo, that I shouldn't be showing a baby at my breast. But with these new clothes, I can breastfeed my baby anywhere and everywhere - and without being either totally covered up or completely exposed."
That "anywhere, everywhere" access should be good news to Health Canada, which has a breast-is-best policy recommending exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby's life to ensure optimal growth.
A similar policy is reinforced by the World Health Organization and by such local grassroots organizations as INFACT Canada, a breastfeeding advocacy group based in Toronto.
Olga Jovkovic, manager of the Healthy Babies Program for the City of Toronto, stresses that breastfeeding is a right and that women really don't need special clothes to do it.
Yet she acknowledges that, for many women, breastfeeding in public is made much easier through fashionable nursing wear that boosts their self-esteem and sense of security.
"Apparel made for breastfeeding certainly allows women to breastfeed in public spaces more comfortably and discreetly," Jovkovic says. "If fashion is supporting that, it's a good thing."