Mum's the word

Oct 18 2007 By Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

We asked readers to nominate a mum-to-be who deserved a makeover as well as a new wardrobe of maternity clothes.

From the letters that came flooding in, we chose Sarah McGlynn, nominated by her husband James. Sarah suffers from a degenerative spine condition that has worsened during her pregnancy and, at times, causes her severe pain.

We thought that winning a Mamas & Papas makeover would put a smile back on her face. HILARIE STELFOX reports

IT’S TOUGH enough in late pregnancy, carrying all that extra weight and feeling like a baby elephant.

But for Sarah McGlynn the latter stages of her pregnancy have been particularly painful and distressing.

The 27-year-old from Birkby, who works as an IT test analyst for a communication company, suffers from a degenerative spine condition which has worsened in the last few weeks.

“I had an operation two years ago to insert plastic discs into my spine and that definitely made a difference to the pain.

“My mum asked then if I would be able to have children and they said that I would.

“I’ve been told that I won’t be able to have an epidural during the delivery and if I need a Caesarian section then I’ll have to have a general anaesthetic,’’ explained Sarah.

Although the pain in her lower back has increased as her pregnancy has progressed – she’s currently at 32 weeks – Sarah is hoping that after the delivery it will go back to normal. “The scariest thing is that no-one really knows what’s going to happen. But it will be all worth it,’’ she added.’’

James and Sarah know that they are expecting a boy and have already chosen a name for him, Connor.

Sarah is hoping for a water birth because she believes it will be the best option for someone with her back problems.

“I always wanted children,’’ she says. “I have four brothers and sisters and my mum and dad fostered children when they were younger. Everyone I know is expecting a baby at the moment.’’

James, who works for Kirklees Social Services, says he decided to nominate Sarah as soon as he saw our Mamas & Papas competition, which offered a prize of £400 worth of maternity clothes as well as a makeover.

“When she’s in pain I do try to help her by massaging her back but I feel a bit helpless because there’s nothing else I can do. She gets a bit depressed from time to time and I thought it would give her something to help her through to the due date.

“Also, when ‘bump’ first arrived she said to me that there are no stylish maternity clothes out there,’’ said James.

In fact, both James and Sarah were thrilled by the Mamas & Papas autumn/winter collection, which we viewed at the company’s headquarters in Colnebridge.

The Huddersfield-based company has been selling chic fashion-led maternity clothes for seven years and this year employed Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) to model one of their ranges.

Normally, Sarah says she chooses casual clothes because she works mainly from home and was keen to find garments that she would be able to wear after the birth as well as up to the delivery.

We also wanted to give her a more glamorous look, to see her through the festive season – the baby is actually due on December 10.

Make-up artist and hair stylist Debby Lewis worked her magic on Sarah before we asked our mum-to-be to model a selection of both casual and dressy clothes.

The result: “She looks fantastic,’’ said James.

dress sense A casual outfit that got the Sarah seal of approval. Cream cardigan (£50), olive camisole (£8), scoop neck T-shirt (£18), boyfriend jeans (£35) and bird necklace (£8)(PW041007Emakeover-4) sitting pretty This glamorous silk print kimono top (£60) can be dressed up or down. We’ve teamed it with embellished jeans (£35), white camisole (£8) and a butterfly necklace (£8)(PW041007Emakeover-3) top choice Sarah’s favourite outfit, a soft jersey jumper dress in fashionable purple (£50) with white camisole (£8), black leggings (£20) and drop necklace (£6). “I’ll get a lot of wear out of this top because it will stretch right up to the day I have the baby and then I’ll be able to wear it afterwards,’’ she said simply stunning Although Sarah says she is not a “dress person’’ we thought she looked stunning in this embellished black dress (£45) and silver heart necklace (£8)(PW041007Emakeover-6)