My first thought on learning news of a close niece's pregnancy was not about health, safety, housing, money, or baby showers as would seem normal. My first thought was "you're going to need maternity clothes."

Then the visions of the old school stepped in with fabrics that should only be covering couches, hideous smocks with ruching just above the breast area designed to make you look 14 sizes larger; and ugly stretchy pants made of materials that wouldn't disintegrate millions of years in the future.

No matter where you were from, chances were there was no way you were going to look as cute and stylish as Lucy before giving birth to Little Ricky or Doris Day in her romantic comedy hayday. it's a given that your time of "confinement" with your big belly blossoming, was going to be just that. And that was fine, because who the heck wanted to be seen.

But no more. It is now the decade of the baby bump.

No more to be hidden away behind drapery or tent fabrics. In fact, no more looking like a tent. at all. 

Baby bumps protrude proudly everywhere: at the Oscars, on magazine covers, on television talk shows and sitcoms, at the beach and at the mall.

Maybe cloth is covering the bump, maybe not. Maybe it's out there freely unencumbered showing off between a tiny tank top and a low cut jean. Or maybe it's competing for the spotlight with a bikini.

Any way its shown, the fact is, it is shown. Maternity clothes - in the traditional sense - are dead.

And I for one say, "rest in peace."

No more running from cameras. Now, it's turn sideways, snap, click, send.

Last year, my sister-in-law sent me 3-D pictures of her ultrasound at 12 weeks pregnant and later pictures of her baby bump. As matter of fact as that. And while millions of Junior Leaguers are shuddering in their shoes at the lack of dignity, I somehow find comfort in it.

The curtains have fallen away and rightfully so. Why should pregnant women hide such a natural and beautiful part of life.

So now we see young pregnant women in overalls from Old Navy, over slightly larger than a postage stamp t-shirts or tanks.

All rules are gone. The style you have is the style you need for pregnancy. Your usual style in your usual way. And as the pregnancy progresses, buy bigger.The third trimester need no longer be without style.

Tunics, boyfriend shirts, leggings, overalls all contribute to the relaxation of the rules of dress for the mom-to-be. For the office, zippers and buttons might be uncomfortable, but the trend is for looser flowing less confining clothes anyway.

Funny thing is this trend was never planned by anyone. It is not by design from clothing manufacturers, not pushed by some powers-that-be in the fashion industry. it just happened.

As natually as developing a baby bump with pregnancy.

Maternity clothes?  No way.

But lets go shopping anyway. A bikini might be nice for a summertime bump.