Essential Criteria for Designing Healthy Maternity Wear: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Background: During pregnancy, because of unique changes in the body, pregnant women need access to clothes that meet their biological needs and inspire a positive attitude toward the body. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the essential criteria for healthy designing maternity clothing. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted as a narrative review. Searches were performed in MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, EMBASE, ERIC, and ProQuest databases for the documents written between 2000 and 2021 regardless of the research methodology and the employed tools. Results: The results of this study were presented in three areas including women's expectations of maternity dress design, psycho-social effects of maternity wear, and maternal clothing designs. Conclusions: The results of this study expand the knowledge of healthy maternity wear designers and, consequently, show that maternity clothing should hold three characteristics, adaptability, comfort, and stylishness, and meanwhile minimize the protrusion of enlarged areas of the body.