It is important for pregnant woman to choose and wear the suitable maternity clothes in order for them to adapt to the changes in their body size during pregnancy period. Before the Middle Ages, there were no specially tailored maternity clothes because clothes were not tailored according to the wearer body shape. In the Western Europe the dresses are designed with seams on the side. Hence, the pregnant ladies used to open the seams of their dresses to adapt to their body growth. Around the 17^th century which is the baroque period, most pregnant women wear loose dresses named “Adrienne” to fit their growing body size. It is a pregnancy garment having many folds with no waist. Besides, apron is also the alternative wear to cover the front space of the jackets which cannot be closed to fit their growing body. There is a lot of combination of clothing which is very adaptable to any body size during the Georgian & Regency era. Although it is not named as maternity dress but it can be worn as one because it fits any stages of pregnancy just like “Adrienne”.

During the 19^th century, the actual maternity wears were designed according to the different stages of pregnancy. Its purpose is mainly for hiding the pregnancy and usually only the wealthy family was afforded to wear such clothing. The poor to do family mostly wore the loose fitting and baggy clothes which can be fit even during pregnancies period. For many years in the 20^th century maternity clothing is considered as a fashion backwater. Pinafores were the only choice for most pregnant ladies when they shopped in the nursery shops. They were not looking for fashionable or stylish maternity wears. Many believed that ladies do not buy clothes for only few months intended use, thus many manufacturer clothing do not think that maternity wear line is a potential profitable industry. Nevertheless, the maternity wear market has growth more than 10% in the late 20^th century. The demand for such clothing had growth due to the increased media coverage of celebrity pregnancy and more pregnant women were in the workforce. These career women need to have a wide range of diversify maternity wears and are more emphasized in style and fashion. Therefore, maternity wear is gaining its popularity in today’s women market especially among the working class ladies.