Mumsnet Talk

Went on my hospital tour today, and one thing really struck me ... all the pictures of the new mums after labour etc they showed us, were naked?! Literally ALL of them. I know this may sound really really stupid, but its worried me now! I was hoping to give birth in a nighty, whereas they made out at the hospital that women give birth butt naked. Please tell me I'm being irrational here!

...is this your first?

Were they pictures of Mum's who had given birth there or are they just random pics of new Mum's?

You don't have to be naked if you don't want to, but you may find that you end up so hot and sweaty by the end that you end up not wearing anything and not caring v much...

I'll tell you one thing - you honestly won't care!

Dont fret give birth in what you feel comfy in, night-shirt/t-shirt/hospital gown. You may find you just dont give a shit in the final throws though and if hot it may all come off regardless of any previous inhibitions.

i felt like you with my first...wanted to try and keep some dignity...trust me when your in labour you really don't care anymore about it. The health professionals need to do their job and you just get on with it. Infact it's quite nice to be able to strip off and cool down. It also depends on if you want skin to skin contact or if you need an epidural (hospital gowns just seem to fall off and your really in no position to care but my last labour was very simple and straight forward and i kept on my kafton right to the end but i actually wish i hadn't as it was just in the way when baby came out to get good skin to skin contact.

You will be able to wear your nightie all th way through unless you need to wear a gown though. It is your choice.

You go into hopital thinking no one will see much of anything but by the 4th internal you are getting pretty used to random strangers seeing all and sundry and when the contractions really start to kick in you wouldn't care if the cleaner wanted to pop in and have a look!

"Were they pictures of Mum's who had given birth there or are they just random pics of new Mum's? "

I'm now most worried about them taking photos of me, naked, to show to pregnant women and their partners

Thats why I asked!

I try to make sure that no-one ever sees the pics taken of me immediately after DS was born.

God forbid they put them up in the labour suite, it would put people off. Honestly I cried when I saw them, but then I am shallow enough to get upset about that

By the time you do a hospital tour I think it is too late to change your mind! Though my hospital does not allow tours, maybe that is the reason...

Pick a nighty/t-shirt you will not mind getting VERY messy... ditto socks (if you are wearing any): make sure clean pair to hand after the event!
BTW I was not naked, but would not have cared if I had been. Most upsetting thing about labour room photos was the ridiculous moon faced woman grinning inanely in them - (nobody told me you can have water retention AFTER delivery...)

I acutally put it in my birth plan that I didnt want to be naked at any point and made sure dp knew aswell.

I took 2 labour nighties with me - Cheap ones from Primark so I could throw them away. My labour was only 2 hours but I made sure I changed into my nightie in the loo before I got onto the bed!! It was the most important thing in my mind at that point!!

I remember thinking that with my first and when I actually had the baby, I was naked.

With my second and third I was soo hot, the first thing I did was get my clothes off.

You honeslty wont give a rats bum.

I don't mind being naked. I am worried that the hospital might be sneakily taking photos of me in the nip!

Would anyone consent for such unflattering pictures of them in their birthday suit being used to educate expectant parents?

hiya! Thanx for all ur replies am freaking out slightly less now lol. Yeah it's my first, and they were pics of mums just after labour. I honestly don't think I'll be stripping off I am very very very prudish to say the least & I don't even want my partner to see my stretch marks in day light lol. I've aleady accepted he's gonna see all sorts of blood & gore but me doing it all in the noddy would be one step too far!!

You won't care - I gave birth naked the first time and in a nightie the second time. But either time there could have been a herd of elephants in the room and I wouldn't have cared!

I have to say that I disagree with the 'not caring' bit. I really cared about my dignity and thinking about my first birth still makes me cring now! I tried very hard to maintain dignity throughout labour (unsuccessfully!) but one way of doing so (if you want to) is to wear a nightie. I wore an old one which I then threw away after the event. However, at the end it had to come off so I could be cleaned up but that was only in front of one midwife who was very nice. I think any scrap of dignity that can be retained during birth would be a good thing.

I cant understand whats really dignified about having your legs akimbo pushing a baby out!

I would never consent to having photos of me just after birth used to educate other new parents. But then I am really selfish and horrible and there are people who are happy to help out. After all, there are "professional patients" who are willing for medical students to examine them for practise. I'd never do that either!

I honestly can't remember how I gave birth. I was in the water at one point, so I suppose I didn't have my T-shirt on then. But I seem to remember waking up in it the next day. Maybe they put it back on me when I was transferred to the CLU.... ??

aniseed why does your first birth make you cringe though? I'm sure the mw doesn't remember it any differently to any of the hundreds of others she's helped with...

Aniseed - I cared very much before and I care afterwards. But at the time, when I'd already been pushing for 3 hours, what I was/wasn't wearing was absolutely the last thing on my mind!

Bearing in mind though that it was more than 30 degrees in the labour ward, the ice machine wasn't working, and they shut the windows more than an hour before I gave birth because they thought DS was about to come!