The marketing opportunities of the hormone-addled pregnant woman are seemingly endless. I spend many happy hours sniggering at the NCT catalogue - which is a bit like an Innovations catalogue for pregnant women. My favourite item is the Womana Birthing Wrap - 'because every woman deserves a little black dress to give birth in' which allows them to feel 'comfortable and feminine on your special day'. It's basically a wrap dress with an inspiring message screen-printed on the inside of the neckline. Which is useful. I imagine that when I'm flagging from the effort of pushing something the size of a melon through my cervix, it would really give me that extra boost to peer into the neckline of my dress to read some guff about the longest journey beginning with a single step. Oh, and it's £59.99. £59.99! for something that I'm almost guaranteed to throw up on.
Also on offer for £25, is a DVD titled Orgasmic Birth. I quote (because you really couldn't make this shit up): 'Joyous, sensuous and revolutionary, Orgasmic Birth brings the ultimate challenge to our cultural myths by inviting viewers to see the emotional, spiritual, and physical heights attainable through birth.' Holy mother of shit - are they actually trying to sexualise child birth? I imagine my only thought about sex will be to curse my poor husband for getting me into this state coupled with the niggling worry that my vagina will be forever turned into something resembling a wind sock.
Moving on. The mothercare catalogue has its own share of nonsense. I love the pregnancy toiletries, particularly the 'Perfect Delivery Perineal gel' which would make all the difference, I'm sure.
The thing is, I'm sure people buy this crap. I'm so tired and emotional I'm practically insane half the time, and I don't think I'm the only one. So my plan is to invent a pregnancy cash in product of my own which I can then market to other vulnerable women. My best idea so far is (drum roll) The Bump Bib! Fed up with dribbling toothpaste/cake/ice cream down the front of your bump? Had enough of looking like you're coated in vomit before you have even had the baby? Get The Bump Bib - a glorified apron with a jaunty jokey message about buns in the oven or some shit, yours for £19.99 (plus VAT).
About Me
- Reluctant mum
- I'm a freelance journalist who has put off parenthood for so long in order to cling doggedly to my career that my first thought when I missed my period was, "Crap! Menopause!" But no, it turns out that I am pregnant with my first child at the age of ...well, let's just say it's towards the upper limit of viable mumdom. As a journalist, I have, of course, done my research (trawled around the internet looking at mum-to-be websites). And while I have found some Very Useful Information (don't boil your unborn child alive by having a sauna),I have also found a huge amount of unreadable clichéd drivel. There's not a hell of a lot out there that captures the way I feel right now (fearful, irritated, fascinated, a curious mix of fatalism and elation topped off with a pair of throbbing knockers which go off like car alarms at the slightest provocation)and I can't believe I'm the only one who feels this way. Hence this blog. A place for me to vent my anxieties and site to reassure other wavering, feckless mothers-to-be that yes, there is someone out there who is even less suited to parenthood than they are.
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