By TRISHA EVANS
The Oklahoman
Monday, September 10, 2007
These days, pregnant women have it made.
Although morning sickness persists and hormones rage on, pregnancy has become a venerated time for expectant moms to celebrate and pamper themselves. From designer maternity clothes that are far from frumpy, to prenatal spa packages and yoga classes specially designed for the bumps on their bellies.
And often, big bellies render big bucks to the businesses that cater to them.
Shannon Iverson has photographed children and babies for years. Two weeks ago she began photographing a new market segment -- bare bellies of moms-to-be.
"Maternity photography has taken off ridiculously," the Edmond, Okla.-based photographer said. "One of my friends who is a photographer in Arkansas started doing maternity shoots and her business doubled, so that's why I started."
Iverson said she's heard of vacations, or "babymoons," for expectant parents looking for one last hoorah before parenthood.
"I know a lot of my friends who planned vacations because they got pregnant and it was like their last big fling," Iverson said. "One of my friends went to Greece on a cruise, two of my friends went to California and one went New York City."
Anticipation Ultrasound Studio in Oklahoma City is one such business that is flourishing as a result of expectant parents or relatives. The studio sells nondiagnostic ultrasound imaging sessions, which show the baby's tissue and movement in 3D instead of the traditional black-and-white ultrasounds.
"We always joke our favorite thing to do is to make grandmothers cry," owner Nancy Coryell said.
The sessions are for entertainment only. A 30-minute session costs $175 and includes a DVD of the baby.
In 2003, Coryell opened Anticipation Ultrasound Studio in Tulsa followed by the Oklahoma City studio a year later.
"It's been fabulous," she said. "I think what's happening is that families are really celebrating being pregnant, and I don't know why that's different now than it was 20 years ago. Like the clothes that women are wearing now, we're showing off our belly. When I was pregnant, we wore tents for dresses. We wore really big, flowing dresses, but the girls now are wearing tight T-shirts."
Coryell said her clients are diverse and can't be classified into a distinct demographic or socioeconomic group.
"Having a baby is such a special thing. Even the kids that can't afford something like this, they talk Grandma and Grandpa into paying for it or get all their friends to go in together as a baby gift."
Coryell also sells body-cast kits, maternity belts, fetal-heartbeat machines and maternity belly-button rings in the studios.
Andre Fountain attributes the prenatal business boom to cultural shift.
"In the past it was just part of getting married; everyone had kids. If you weren't pregnant you were the oddity. Now, it's like pregnancy has become a fashion statement. It's almost a marketable commodity. We've changed our attitude about pregnancy entirely," said Fountain, former obstetrical nurse and director of Praxis College of Massage Therapy.
"There's just all kinds of little market niches of people saying this is something we can do just for pregnant women," he added.
However, pregnancy massage is not one of them, Fountain said. The techniques are far from new. Praxis College has been teaching pregnancy massage since the 1920s or 1930s.
Other massage therapists say the service is beginning to pick up in spa settings.
"It's not that it's new. More and more women are making themselves aware (of massage) via the Internet, etc," said Tobi Utterback, a massage therapist at Renaissance Salon in Oklahoma City.
Like pregnancy massage, prenatal yoga classes are far from new, but are gaining popularity among pregnant women.
Sara Alavi, co-owner of 3rd Street Yoga, in Edmond, said expectant moms learn to breathe properly and release tension during yoga class. They also become more familiar with their bodies.
"During your pregnancy you rest better and breathe better, you're more flexible and your joints are more fluid," she said. "All of that helps cope with the stresses of pregnancy and birth."
Utterback, a mother of five, said it boils down to taking time out for Mom -- someone who's often lost amid all the baby preparation.
"This is a way for the mom to be able to get special treatment for Mom, because moms need special treatment just as much as the baby (who is) coming," she said.
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