Review: Happy Mum London maternity nursing dress for laid back summer style

‘You got a dress!’

Baby Girl was clearly excited on my behalf. We were opening a parcel I’d received from maternity and nursing wear brand Happy Mum London, and it was a stretchy blue cotton tunic dress with star print (£48) to review. Baby Girl, who has been worried about the lack of dresses and pink in my wardrobe, was very pleased to see a dress having arrived in the post for me.

It is as comfortable as a nightgown and something I would like putting on to hang out in the garden on a warm summer day. It fits over my bump, but when I picked it I was more interested in the breastfeeding features. I remember from last time I was breastfeeding that I didn’t have much to wear on very hot days, and the Happy Mum dress has discreet zippers to allow for feeding and it’s nice to have something with a print, so stains don’t show easily if I’m out and about.

Last time I was breastfeeding I bought a lot of nursing tops, and I paired these with my usual clothes–mainly cardigans–but I always felt quite warm on sunny days when I normally would have wanted to wear a floaty dress or some other casual summer outfit that didn’t necessarily include a white nursing top.

For summer breastfeeding, I think it’s useful to have a couple of options, and that’s why I was interested when I browsed the Happy Mum collection, which includes some clothes I could have worn without being pregnant or nursing. Several of the dresses, such as the lime Lorena dress (pictured below right), are suitable for both pregnancy and breastfeeding, but by the time I put on mine I was already feeling like a whale and the dress, which I expect to be loose fitting later this summer, is now hugging my hips.

Even Baby Girl, who now simply calls me her ‘Big Fish’, has agreed that I should stick to the one empire-line dress I have that still fits for the time being, and we can bring out the Happy Mum cotton dress again when I will love to have loose fitting clothes after giving birth and feel a need to hide the post-baby bump.

The first time I had no idea I wouldn’t want only tight-fitting clothes after birth. Now I have a very different plan for summer 2015!