What to Wear When Pregnant in Summer

The short answer

Why heat is the harder season

Three things stack up. Your metabolic rate rises, your blood volume increases substantially, and you are running a second circulation — so feeling warmer and sweating more are listed among the ordinary features of pregnancy.

Then add the things heat makes worse: swelling in your feet and ankles, which the NHS describes as common and gravity-driven, and the itching of stretched skin, which ACOG's material on pregnancy skin conditions covers. Heat aggravates both.

So a pregnant summer is not just uncomfortable, it is a cluster of symptoms that all get worse together. Dressing for it is worth more thought than dressing for cold.

Summer: what works

Fabric first

Cotton, linen, bamboo and viscose over polyester. This is the single biggest lever and it costs nothing extra. Synthetic fabric against skin that is already sweating and possibly itching is genuinely unpleasant, and the difference is immediate.

The trade is that natural fibers crease and lose shape through a day. That is a real cost and it is worth paying in July.

Dresses over trousers

A dress has no waistband and air moves through it. In high summer, dresses and skirts do more for comfort than any trouser can, and loose A-line or swing shapes do more than fitted ones. See maternity dresses for work.

Loose over fitted

Air needs somewhere to go. A loose linen shirt is cooler than a fitted cotton one, and volume from the shoulder or bust is cooler than volume from the waist.

Solve the chafing

Underrated and genuinely miserable. Thighs that are closer together than they used to be chafe in heat, especially under a dress. Boyshort or short-cut underwear solves it, and it is a cheaper fix than changing what you wear. See maternity underwear.

Shoes that fit the feet you have

Feet swell in heat and in pregnancy, and both at once is substantial. Buy a half size up in something you can actually wear, keep straps adjustable, and do not persist with shoes that fitted in March.

Get in water

The most effective single intervention on this page. Swimming cools you, takes your weight off your pelvis and back, and the water pressure acts a little like compression for swollen legs. ACOG and the NHS both encourage activity in pregnancy, and in summer swimming is often the only comfortable option. See maternity swimsuits.

Summer: what to avoid

• Polyester anything against skin. Including maternity-specific garments, which are frequently synthetic.
• Full over-belly panels in heavy fabric. A denim panel across your abdomen in July is an extra layer in the worst place. Under-belly or side panels are cooler.
• Compression you do not need. Compression socks genuinely help swelling and are worth wearing, but shapewear in heat is miserable and achieves nothing.
• Light-colored leggings, which go sheer sooner and show everything.
• One warm layer instead of two thin ones. Your temperature changes through the day; removable beats warm.

Winter: the easier half

Cold is a simpler problem, with three specific answers:

• Do not buy a maternity coat. Wear your own, open, with layers underneath. A scarf fills the gap at the front. This saves a lot of money for a few months of use.
• Fleece-lined leggings or tights. This is the genuine winter purchase. You will be outdoors more than you expect and standing still more than you expect.
• Layer under rather than over. A long thermal or ribbed tank under your normal clothes is warmer and less bulky than something heavy on top, and it covers the bump when outer layers ride up.

The one genuine winter difficulty is footwear: ice plus a shifted center of gravity plus reduced ability to see your own feet is a real combination. Grip matters more than it used to, and this is not the season for anything slippery.

If your pregnancy spans both

It probably does, which is the practical reason not to buy a whole wardrobe at once.

Buy for the season you are in, and when the weather turns, buy two or three pieces for the new one rather than replacing everything. Leggings, long tops and dresses all transition with layering; what does not transition is fleece lining and linen.

Our timing guide has the order to buy things in, and it applies across seasons too: late purchases should be for problems you actually have.

When heat is a symptom rather than weather

Feeling hot and sweating more is a normal part of pregnancy. Worth contacting your midwife or OB about rather than treating as a clothing problem:

• A fever, or feeling hot with shivering or feeling generally unwell
• Sudden or severe swelling, especially of your face or hands
• Swelling with a headache, visual changes, or pain under your ribs
• Dizziness or fainting in heat that does not settle when you cool down and rest
• Severe itching, particularly on hands and feet at night

Also worth knowing: raising your core temperature significantly is generally advised against, so hot tubs, saunas and very hot baths are worth asking your own provider about.