Things You Need To Know Before You Buy Maternity Clothes, by me (Jessie), your go-to veteran pregnant mama.

If you're newly pregnant, trying to get pregnant or currently pregnant, you are going to want to read this before you spend any money on your maternity wardrobe!

Hi! I'm Jessie, and today I'm going to save you from the pain of endlessly buying, returning and searching for maternity clothes you actually want to wear, like me!

Why should you listen to me? Well here are a few of my credentials to keep in mind before we get in too deep... I'm a mother of 4 kids 4 and under! I have spent the majority of my last 4 years pregnant and or in the postpartum stages of motherhood. I'm a lover a fashion design, pattern-making and babies, and have spent my past 4 years making prototypes and researching how I can bring more function and fashion into motherhood.

During my first pregnancy I spent a lot of money trying to find a maternity brand that had comfortable and stylish maternity clothes that would fit me for longer than 1-3 months. After all, spending money on clothes isn't fun, especially when you can only wear them for a few months before having to purchase another wardrobe to wear during the next stage of pregnancy and motherhood. 

I started my search with leggings. I figured if a brand couldn't figure out how to make fashionable, comfortable and functional leggings that would fit me my entire pregnancy and postpartum journey, then I wasn't confident they could figure out other more complex silhouettes. I was met with a lot of disappointment as I tried and failed to find a legging that would fit this basic list of needs:

• fit my entire pregnancy and postpartum journey, not just 1-3 months
• stayed up and stayed in place in general (like normal pre-pregnancy leggings. Not having to constantly readjust and pull up my bottoms regardless of what stage of pregnancy/PP i was in)
• not see-thru (96-99% opacity)
• comfortable
• easy to take on and off without running out of breath
• looked and fit great before, during and after my pregnancy
• supportive without applying pressure to my belly
• didn't jam into my rib cage and cause discomfort 

I purchased an obscene amount of bottoms/leggings throughout my entire first pregnancy, most of the bottoms left me very disappointed or wanting more function out of the garment.

(image of the RASKANA VAALIA Everyday Comfort Maternity Legging vs. a competitors legging on same mama at 1 month postpartum to show difference of fit. Both images were taken within 2 minutes of eachother.)

Whats worse is that most of the leggings looked amazing in the video and pictures I saw on google and instagram influencers pages (who all gave them amazing reviews). This was around the time I stopped buying into the influencer culture, and became very suspicious of influencer pregnancy ads. Like, do they all actually like the leggings they are promoting, or were most influencers just doing it for the paycheck? I mean how many times have you seen influencers advertise clothing within the pregnancy space that are just straight up unattractive and poor fitting or completely outside of that influencers style. 

What I ended up with after my first pregnancy was an empty wallet, a ton of leggings and pants that were never going to be worn again (not even for my next pregnancies they were that bad), and a very frustrated outlook on maternity clothes in general. I had (and still have) a strong desire for a big family, but was dreading being pregnant again because I felt like I had nothing comfortable and cute to wear! How did moms do this over and over again while maintaining confidence if they didn't have anything comfy to wear that made them look and feel great?! I wasn't going to let clothing get in the way of my growing family, and refused to let this be a hurdle for me and other fellow/future mamas out there!

It was then that I set out on my quest to create great looking maternity leggings that fit perfect, before during and after pregnancy. I desperately wanted to make quality, functional and fashionable maternity apparel for myself and all the other real moms out there. A maternity clothing brand with leggings that works well for all body types, shapes and sizes! This is when the VAALIA Everyday Comfort Maternity Legging from RASKANA entered the chat! (UPDATE: VAALIA now also comes with a Pocket version and as Maternity Shorts!)

These leggings are designed and patterned to perfection, and fit perfectly for entire pregnancy and postpartum journey. The material that is used for the leggings is a buttery soft and uber comfortable fabric that is super stretchy and has great memory, which makes it go back to its original size after wearing. They are fully opaque and not see-thru at all! All the support you want without any of the un-wanted pressure.

(image of the RASKANA VAALIA Everyday Comfort Maternity Legging on mannequin to show how the garment grows with your bump)

Forget sacrificing comfort, sizing up, and buying 3-4 pairs of leggings throughout your pregnancy. All RASKANA bottoms are everything you ever dreamed of and more! And lets give a hearty goodbye to the awkward postpartum stage where you don't know what to wear and can't find anything that looks great and feels good on your changing body, all our bottoms have got your covered, and will keep you feeling and looking great during your postpartum days! 

Wether you have 1 or 12+ pregnancies, we should all be given the opportunity to have comfy clothing that works for your entire pregnancy and postpartum journey, and keeps us looking and feeling great during the most empowering and incredible chapter of our lives! That is why here at RASKANA, I make maternity apparel a priority and not an afterthought. All of our products are designed and developed by me (Jessie), your go to veteran pregnant mama, who is simply looking to create maternity clothes that actual work for us, and not against us!

No more pulling up your pants/leggings every 2 seconds and wearing uncomfortable clothes under my watch! ;)

xxx Jessie

SHOP ALL RASKANA BOTTOMS HERE

(video of me (Jessie), founder and creator of RASKANA and the VAALIA Everyday Comfort Legging, rocking her everyday stay at home/working mom hair-do! 😆)