REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BE BUYING MATERNITY WEAR

Ninth Moon Maternity Long Sleeve Weave Breastfeeding Dress

Reason Number 1: OK, so reason number 1 is obviously to keep me, and the few maternity stores that still exist, in business :)

Reason Number 2: To support small business and the Australian Economy because most maternity stores and maternity suppliers are small Australian businesses and much of the stock is still manufactured in Australia.

Reason Number 3: Now here's where there is direct benefit to you. Maternity Wear is so comfortable. It's not as pricey as it used to be and most of it is designed to be worn while breastfeeding as well as pregnancy. In fact, most of it can be worn pregnant or not. So it's a financially clever option.

The alternative for many is buying normal clothes a few sizes bigger, or looking for stretchy garments but I don't understand the logic. Why spend money on ill fitting clothes that most likely won't even get you through a full pregnancy when you can buy clothes designed for the purpose and have the benefit of being able to wear them afterwards while breastfeeding?

As for price, buying cheap crap from Target will not last a full pregnancy. You'll be lucky if it gets you half way and it certainly won't be in any kind of condition suitable for a 2nd or 3rd pregnancy.

I know there are still some expensive designer labels of maternity wear out there but the average price of a top quality garment here at Maternity Revolution is $59.95. That top will last you years and it is one that can be worn while pregnant and while breastfeeding. In fact you don't even have to be pregnant to wear most things.

I'm not a big advocate of the Belly Belt either. Once upon a time when maternity wear was ugly and had big over tummy panels in the front I could understand why people were reluctant to wear them and in the early stages of pregnancy a Belly Belt was an essential maternity wardrobe item but these days the maternity pants are just so comfy and again, you don't have to have a tummy to wear them. So why not buy yourself a few pairs of maternity pants and be comfortable and well dressed as opposed to having this lumpy, uncomfortable contraption hooked up to your normal pants?

Quite seriously the Australian Maternity Industry is struggling and if you don't support us we will disappear and I know that many of you don't want that because the customers we do have are always so grateful that we exist. We are always asked by customers to open new stores around the country which I would love to do if more people patronised the stores that currently exist. We are told our service is the best and we know this is true by all the good reviews we have. To my knowledge we have not received even one bad review.

So if we have great stock, great prices and great service you need to pay us a visit. We are online or we have a huge store on Brisbane's Northside at 1/124 South Pine Rd, Brendale. Plus, we are open 7 days.

We don't just do maternity wear either. We also stock maternity bras and support garments. Yes we also do plus size maternity clothes up to size 26 and larger cup bras up to an H cup.

By the way, if you don't believe me that Maternity Wear stores are becoming extinct, visit your local Westfield and see what you find. There are no more specialty maternity stores in the big centres. Pumpkin Patch no longer do maternity wear, Mothercare went broke, Room 4 Two went broke too. David Jones and Myers haven't bothered with maternity wear for years and I am told that Big W have dropped maternity wear this season. That leave KMart and Target but there range is going to bring you to tears unless you like shapeless, black, t-shirt fabric garments.

So come on people! BUY MATERNITY WEAR from a proper maternity wear store....NOW! (Pretty please)

PS. There seems to be a demand for second hand maternity wear on sites like Gumtree so you can always sell your clothes when you are finished with them. (Not your cheap crap though because that will have fallen apart within a few weeks).

Thanks for listening.

Lisa Hovar

www,maternityrevolution.com.au
Ph: 07 32051818
Email: lisa@maternityrevolution.com.au

MATERNITY SLEEPWEAR HAS ARRIVED AT MATERNITY REVOLUTION

It's the simple things that get me excited sometimes and given that it has been 11 years of searching I am very excited that I have finally found some comfortable, well priced maternity sleepwear.

The brand is Mamaybebe. The styles include a blue check flannelette maternity pyjama pant, various breastfeeding tops to match back to the pants, a nightie with a built in bra for breastfeeding and a simple black short sleeve breastfeeding nightie. All items can be worn while pregnant or nursing.

Go to the maternity sleepwear page on our website and see for yourself.

Of course we also have some other great options like comfy cotton lycra foldover pants, 3/4 pant, shorts and leggings that can be teamed up with a breastfeeding cami and a dressing gown to make a perfect loungewear/sleepwear combo to pack in your hospital bag.

If you are not packing camis with built in bras then don't forget to pack yourself a sleep bra of some sort. You are going to be very sore and engorged for the first week or so yet you will need something to keep your breastpads in place. Without these you will leak milk everywhere. You can sleep in your everyday bra, as long as it isn't an underwire bra, but you will be much comfier in a proper breastfeeding sleep bra. I can suggest the Cake Cotton Candy bra,the Hotmilk My Necessity Bra,the Fertile Mind Super Sleep Bra and the Fertile Mind Super Bra. You will find them all on our website under maternity sleepwear or under maternity lingerie,underwear and hoisery.

If you are at all unsure about what to pack, please fell free to phone us at Maternity Revolution on 07 32051818 or email us lisa@maternityrevolution.com.au

Here's a few images of the new sleepwear in store.

Regards,

Lisa Hovar

www.maternityrevolution.com.au

Aberdeem Maternity Pyjama Pant

Siena maternity/feeding nightie

Avignon Nursing Top

Malibu Nightie with built in bra (not yet on website)

Teneriffe Feeding Tank

Maternity Wear Prices Have Never been lower!

So you want maternity wear bargains! Well you need to visit us at #Maternity Revolution soon.

We have reduced all our Precious Cargo maternity stock to just $10. Most these items were priced at over $100 originally but we have to clear it all out. Seriously, you should see my shed. Boxes and boxes of stock.

There are maternity pants, maternity dresses, maternity skirts, maternity tees, fully lined maternity jackets and more.

We have also reduced our already reduced Egg Maternity stock by a further 20%.

The Egg stock includes maternity evening wear dresses and some casual #maternity dresses and #breastfeeding tops. Prices start from $19.95.

Then of course there is our most popular and top selling label, Ninth Moon Maternity. Even at full price the Ninth Moon stock is reasonably priced but we at Maternity Revolution have all our Ninth Moon Maternity stock at well below recommended retail price.

In fact, there isn't much in our store that isn't reduced so visit us instore or online today.

www.maternityrevolution.com.au
PH: 07 32051818
1/124 South Pine Rd, Brendale, QLD, 4500
Open 7 days

Lisa Hovar

WHERE HAVE ALL THE MATERNITY WEAR STORES GONE?

It's a fact! The maternity industry in Australia has shrunk to the point where it should be listed on an endangered species register!

I should know. I have owned my own store, Maternity Revolution, in Brendale on Brisbane's northside for 11 years now. I have been in the maternity industry for 15 years.

Here in Brisbane we probably lead the country with a whopping 5 stores (2 inner north, 2 outer north and 1 in the west). Elsewhere in Australia you would be lucky to count more than 1 store in each capital city.

David Jones don't do maternity, nor do Myers. From what I am told by my customers, Big W's range is now so small they may as well not do anything while Kmart and Target specialise in black cotton lycra basics only. Pumpkin Patch have dropped their maternity range. Room 4 Two and Mothercare, two very big retail chains situated in most the Westfields, both closed their doors some years ago.

As you can imagine, if the big players can't make a go of it, the little guys have even less chance and hence we have seen a lot of small boutiques close their doors. I can count at least 20 stores that have closed over the past 10 years.

The big question is :Why?"

Aren't people still getting pregnant?

I am so sick of people walking into the store in late pregnancy, perhaps coming in for bras or breastfeeding clothes and saying: "Wow! Great store. Wish I'd known about this earlier." My standard response is to ask why they didn't know about it till now. The standard answer is: "I DIDN'T LOOK!"

Holy moly! How does a small business overcome that hurdle. It's hard enough these days to get people's attention with the virtual death of print advertising and email being about as effective as whispering in a night club. Google hasn't helped. It has meant that you have to sit back and wait till customers are looking for you and in the meantime you pay $1000's of dollars a month to try and be found on Google when and if they decide to look. So if they are not even looking....then what?

I suppose what I am trying to say, is don't complain about the lack of something if you don't plan to give it your full support. This is similar to what's happening in the fresh food industry at the moment. Cries can be heard from every corner for better labelling laws and more Australian produce but in reality, few people are prepared to pay for it. Soon Australian frozen berries will hit the supermarket shelves and I will be interested to see what support they get. Many people will undoubtedly want to buy them but whether they are prepared to put their money where their mouth is remains to be seen.

So it is also with maternity wear. I hear requests for plus size maternity wear, maternity bras for larger cups sizes, maternity sports bras, strapless maternity bras, more maternity evening wear, maternity wear for tall people, maternity wear for short people, and so on and so on. I could go and spend $5000 on some plus size maternity shorts, 3/4 pants, jeans, cargos, and a few tops and to make it worthwhile all I would need to do is sell 1-2 pieces of it a day. That way, by the end of 60 days, when the bill comes dues, it is all sold and I can pay the bill and order more. That just doesn't happen though. If people want plus size maternity then I need at least 1 customer a day.  I don't know what the birth rate is for plus size women in Australia but given that a business can only really expect to grab about 2% of the market there would need to be nearly 20,000 plus size women giving birth each year. With just over 300,000 births nationally each year, that's about 7% of total births. In truth, that is perhaps a possibility but it doesn't happen so obviously the percentage of plus size women wanting maternity wear is less than 2%. Or perhaps they do want it but don't want to buy online and I think this is more accurate.

With the expense of running a bricks and mortar store, many have ventured down the path of an online maternity store. Overheads are reduced to almost nil with no rent, no insurance, no wages, no electricity for running shop lighting and air conditioning, no merchandising displays, no signage, and no cleaning. An instant saving of about $150,000 a year but the catch is that not everyone wants to buy online and when you expose yourself to the online market you are in direct competition with some of the very big players of the maternity industry who have very large advertising budgets, very sophisticated websites and quite enticing returns and free postage policies. When the average internet sale costs about $15 to post, and the average gross profit on that sale is about $40, you can't afford to be offering free post and free returns. So unless you plan to plough that $150,000 saving into internet marketing and hope it brings returns, you perhaps shouldn't go down that path.

The real answer is a little like the answer to the age old question: " What came first? The chicken or the egg?" Did people stop buying maternity and therefore stores closed and people lost their awareness of there ever existing such a thing as a maternity store or did shops start closing due to the GFC and poor business practices and economic cycles which left shoppers with no other choice than to make do with non maternity clothing and as a result the awareness of specialty maternity stores disappeared. If it was simply that people stopped buying, then why was this and is that reason still valid or would people start buying again if more stores opened and the awareness was lifted?

I personally feel that a very successful maternity store needs the financial backing of a big player. It will need work and money to get it up and running successfully and the money is what's missing with most small businesses. Imagine though, a mini store within a department store. This store would be manned by experienced and dedicated staff who could also offer bra fittings and help with support garments. On the same floor would be the baby goods section and baby clothing. Myers are looking to revamp their image. Maybe this is something they could take on board.

Anyway, after a very long ramble, I suppose what I am trying to say is if you want maternity stores to be around in coming years and you want variety and good prices and personalised service then support the ones that are still here now.

Lisa Hovar
Maternity Revolution
www.maternityrevolution.com.au
1/124 South Pine Road, Brendale, QLD, 4500

BREASTFEEDING DRESSES AND TOPS ON SALE

We have come to a special arrangement with Goosebumps Clothing and until Sunday 15th March, 2015 we are offering 20% off the original marked price of all Goosebumps Nursing Wear.

To take up this offer, simply visit our Goosebumps Breastfeeding page and see what is available in the Goosebumps range. Then either phone us with your order on 07 3205 1818 or pop into store. You can also email us lisa@maternityrevolution.com.au .The specials are not available online (only phone orders).

Tracey, the owner of Goosebumps Clothing is a lovely lady who lives on the beautiful North Coast of NSW. She is the mother of 2 lovely girls and this range is designed with all her invaluable personal experience in breastfeeding. The fabrics are top quality and drape so well. Please support local little businesses like myself and Goosebumps Clothing. Our prices are great and the quality is so much better than anything you will buy in a chain store.

Here is just a small sample of what's on offer.

Goosebumps Olivia Feeding Top Was $59.95. Now $47.95

Goosebumps Celeste Feeding Top Was $59.95 Now $47.95

Goosebumps Rose Breastfeeding Dress Was $93.50 Now $74.95

Goosebumps Paige Feeding Tee Was $ 59.95 Now $47.95

Goosebumps Giselle Maxi Feeding Dress with built in bra. Was $94.95. Now  $75.95.

Remember that this offer is only valid till Sunday 15th March, so hurry!

Maternity Revolution 1/124 South Pine Rd, Brendale, QLD, 4500

Ph: 07 32051818

DID YOU HAVE A DIFFICULT BIRTH? HERE'S SOME IDEAS THAT MIGHT HELP YOU.

If giving birth for you was a traumatic experience you may need help to move on and my friend Bree Taylor Molyneaux is an expert in such areas. She has written a beautiful and thoughtful article on what Birth Trauma is and what steps you can take to recover. Bree is a specialist in the area of hypnotherapy but there are many other useful suggestions in this article. I have taken the liberty of copying a link to her blog for you to read.

http://www.pregnantpossibilities.com/2014/birth-trauma-healing-a-difficult-birth/

Bree also has a range of hypnotherapy cd's that you might find useful and we have them for sale on our website at www.matenrityrevolution.com.au

Titles include Hypnotherapy for Fertility, Hypnotherapy for IVF, Hypnotherapy for a Caesarean Birth and Hynpnotherapy for Breastfeeding. All just $19.95.

Happy Reading.

Lisa

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED HYPNO BIRTHING? IF ITS GOOD ENOUGH FOR KATE MIDDLETON THEN PERHAPS YOU SHOULD!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Bree Taylor Molyneaux from Pregnant Possibilities. She is an expert and authority in the area of hypnosis and everything birthing related from fertility and IVF to birthing and breastfeeding. We are now offering her amazing range of Hypnosis CD's on our website.



HypnoBirthing for Caesarean Delivery

Hypnosis for Breastfeeding $19.95



Hypnosis for Fertility $19.95

Hypnosis For IVF $19.95

HypnoBirthing is not what many of you may think. There is not old fob watch being swung in front of your face while you are told to relax. Instead it is about teaching you to relax yourself when you need to, re-programming your ideas about pain and encouraging you to listen to your body.

I hope you enjoy reading this Blog that Bree has put together and feel free to contact her through her website Pregnant Possibilities.

http://www.pregnantpossibilities.com/2013/hypnobirthing-grows-in-australia/ (This is the link if you want to be directed to the blog page or I have copied and pasted the post for you to read below)

Enjoy!
Lisa
Maternity Revolution

Following recent news that Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton used hypnosis early in her pregnancy for morning sickness and is planning on using HypnoBirthing for her upcoming birth, a new wave of women are becoming interested in this natural approach to childbirth.
The use of hypnosis for birth has been employed prior to the 19th century, with early attempts at hypno-suggestive labour pain relief made back in the 1880s by obstetrician I. Dobrovolskaya, but its popularity didn’t begin to become more known until the 1940’s by obstetrician Dr Grantly Dick-Read.
Today in Australia HypnoBirthing® is becoming a more mainstream option, as women increasingly seek alternatives to highly medicalised births, epidurals and elective caesareans.
Naturally focused HypnoBirthing® classes provide mums and dads with a range of breathing, visualisation and self hypnosis techniques so they can relax as much as possible during labour, often reducing its duration and lessening the need for pain-relief.
The premise suggests when mum is relaxed and calm it encourages her body’s production of oxytocin, the hormone which helps drive labour, but when a pregnant woman is stressed during contractions, adrenaline inhibits oxytocin production, resulting in a slower and more painful labour.
Women around the world espouse the benefits of hypnosis for pain relief, with 75-80% [1] who use the method birthing without an epidural. Many celebrities have also used the method including Jessica Alba, Miranda Kerr, Giselle Bundschen and Pamela Anderson.
Additional benefits of HypnoBirthing® classes mean that birth partners – who can also be quite fearful about birth – learn how to get involved in the process so they aren’t left feeling helpless during the labour, while women who use the approach have higher breastfeeding success rates six months after delivery.
HypnoBirthing® courses are taught in most countries around the world by Certified Practitioners. To find your locally certified practitioner visit www.hypnobirthing.com

About the author

by Bree Taylor Molyneaux is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Certified HypnoBirthing® Practitioner, mother and wife.
She founded Aspire Hypnotherapy & Pregnant Possibilities, teaches HypnoBirthing® classes from Embrace Life in North Lakes and has a range of hypnosis downloads for a range of issues including pre and post pregnancy.
For information on upcoming Brisbane HypnoBirthing classes visit here