Hi, I am Maria Patterson, the inspiration behind Bumps Maternity Wear. In 1994, when I was pregnant with our first baby I realised just how difficult it was to buy stylish maternity wear. As a busy ‘mum to be’ my maternity wear needs varied: I needed to maintain a smart professional look for work, casual smarter clothes for day to day and evening wear and of course good old ‘comfort clothes’ for cosy evenings in front of the TV! One further need - of course I didn’t want to spend a fortune!

The business seed was sown, my destiny lay before me and my mission: to save pregnant women from a life of tracksuit bottoms and baggy T shirts.

The idea lay dormant until I was faced with the same retail dilemma in 1996, when my son Rhys came along. Soon after this Bumps Maternity Wear was born. Having worked within IT I discovered the miracle of the Web and I realised how I could make Bumps Maternity Wear available to all - let’s face it, I wanted to save pregnant women all over the globe and not just in the North East of England.

Bumps Maternity Wear provides easy and accessible Internet shopping from our base in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in the North East of England. We supply top quality, stylish and comfortable maternity clothes, catering for all shapes and sizes, enabling you to enjoy and make the most of your bump!

When I changed shape with my daughter Caitlin, in 2002, this time I changed shape with style.

Rhys and Caitlin (pictured right) are now 15 and 9 years old.

Enjoy being pregnant and enjoy shopping at Bumps Maternity Wear!