But if motherhood is sexy, then why was the woman in the maternity shop handing me a bra that looked like a relic from the fifties? A big, white cotton number that would be sure to give me that matronly look I had managed to avoid all these years. I could live with the fact that white was the only color available, but I'd have a hell of a time living with the nearly inch-wide padded straps that would surely show through my tank tops — not to mention the itchy nylon lace they felt obliged to sew on for that "feminine look." If itchy, tight and uncomfortable was feminine, than I was it. I bought the bra, not out of desire to don it but rather because of the saleswoman's insistence that seeking any other style would be futile.

While looking through Mothering magazine I was ecstatic to come across an ad for Bravado maternity and nursing bras. They too were cotton, but they had shiny, sexy straps I wouldn't be ashamed to show and they came in prints and colors — including BLACK! That color that somehow manages elude the maternity world.

The concept of nursing bras is, of course, that their design makes for easy feeding. The little snaps enable you to lower the flaps and perform the practical task of nourishing your child. But motherhood and nursing and all its accessories and entrapments need not always have a serious, sacred tone. My husband and I found that those same fold-down flaps can be fun as well as functional.