to wonder why some women give birth naked?

[sparklyknittedmacaroons]

Just seen a video of a woman doing this, and I know a couple of friends who have chosen to. Am about to give birth to my 4th and personally couldn't bear the thought of being naked in a room of strangers, also don't understand why there is the need...not criticising anyone who does it, just genuinely asking the question so no rudeness or flaming please!

I guess I feel I'd want to hang on to a shred of dignity by keeping my nightie on! You might be showing it all of down below but not all the time during labour - the thought of having nothing on at a very vulnerable time makes me cringe but each to his own!

Julie Andrews and all her nuns.

You can do skin to skin with a nightie on, I always have, the baby can be delivered on to your tummy then you can breastfeed.

I just got to the point where I was so hot and so itrritated by the sensation of the stupid T shirt, that I practically ripped it off. I wasn't in the least bit concerned about any of the professionals in the room seeing my boobs when they'd already been intimately acquainted with my nether regions

How many strangers are present for a birth?

I have HB so I have 2 midwives, dh and my mother if she makes it in time.

Hardly a "room full" of strangers. I'm sure hospital births are similar?

I know I had a gown on with dd1 but I can't for the life of me remember if I was clothed or not by the time dd22 actually arrived. So I doubt very much that I cared either way!

Oh god I would have loved to have been naked.

I could quite happily have ripped my nighty off.

Everything got in the way or twisted and soooo hot.

i had a t shirt on with mini and a nightie with boypup but both times the midwife threw my top up and got my boobs out anyway so for the next one i may well get nekkid have to convince df to let me have another seeing as boypup is only 3 weeks old

I wouldn't, tbh - for precisely the same reason as others say they wouldn't care. Already feeling quite exposed and vulnerable enough without having the rest of my body on show as well.

YANBU OP. I managed to give birth wearing my skinny jeans and cashmere jumper. All this unnecessary nakedness just makes me roll my eyes.

I am a prude, and was dreading the thought of childbirth and internal examinations. Took off my nightie during the birth of DC1 after my waters broke over it and refused to put anything else on. I have gas and air hazed memories of hearing the midwives say, "We have to get a gown on her."

I eventually agreed to have one put on when I had to be transferred to another area of the labour suite.

I remain a prude post partum, it was a temporary blip.

I was in a birthing pool & fully dripping wet just before they were born.

Dear sparklyknittedmacaroons, here's hoping you don't have a room full of strangers this time, so you can concentrate on the important business of giving birth rather than worrying about preserving your modesty. I can't begin to imagine how oppressive it must be to be so concerned about whether you keep your clothes on or not. FWIW I wore the same nightie in labour with both my babies, and had it on when the second one was born. I took it off straight away for skin to skin - I was at home in my own bedroom, in the presence of my husband and 2 trusted friends and midwives, why shouldn't I just whip my clothes off if I wanted to?

callmemrs ROAR at "Dh, who I'd known for a good few years"

Birth is pretty flange-tastic so a flash of nip is neither here nor there.

Having said that, my breasts were so incredibly sensitive that I couldn't bear them coming into contact with anything before DS did so the first thing I did after he was born was whip off my yoga bra.

I always got to a point (usually shortly before transition) where I HAD to rip all my clothes off. I just felt too restricted with my nightie on.

Dignity!?! Why is it undignified to be naked?

I imagine it depends on how you are during labour. If your off your tits on gas and air or 'in the zone' then you probably wouldn't notice if you were surrounded by an army of onlookers or even if you were actually wearing clothes! But if you'd had an epidural or were very aware of what was happening around you then it might feel a bit weird to be naked.

baby was prob concvied while the mother was naked, does that bother you too?

I was in the pool to begin with so in a kind of beach cover up, changed into a nightie when I came out, I don't think it stayed the duration.

Tbh I am not body confident and was paranoid about the level of exposure in labour. But then when I needed an epidural and forceps I wad lying on my back in theatre, legs akimbo in stirrups with medical people walking backwards and forwards past my nethers and I couldn't have cared less. Cliche, but true.

I couldn't bear to have anything touching my skin. Even the wires from the TENS machine felt so bad that my DH had to hold them away from me. That's just me. What you want to do it up to you.

With all 3 of my DS's, I just could not bear the feeling of clothes on my skin. It was not a case of necessary or not, that was the way it was. With DS1 my mum was there with me as well as DH, so she saw me in all my glory for the first time in years

Oh dear backinthebox, not sure why so touchy? Obviously my priority is giving birth to a healthy baby, I was just interested to know why some women feel the need to get naked, now I know....I can assure you that I'm not oppressed in any way and have had three great births without taking all my clothes off!

Amazing - very funny - I don't think I was suggesting anyone should be fully clothed, I had the skimpiest of nighties and a nursing bra each time, my point was I don't understand why some people feel the need to wear nothing!

Well, most others don't understand why you feel the need to worry about it.

gothicangel - baby was prob concvied while the mother was naked, does that bother you too?

Not at all, because my husband was the only other person there and I am quite happy to be naked with him, that answer your question?

When I went into hospital to have DD I had carefully packed my "giving birth top/tunic". However, DD was in a bit of a hurry, so I was more keen on getting my hands on the gas than dressing for the big event. I had a long t-shirt on with a vest top underneath, ended up being sick suddenly, so wanted to get that off pronto, then 10 minutes later DD was born.

Afterwards how I laughed that I had even bothered to pack an outfit!! Could not have cared less who saw by that point, but that was a 4 hour labour, if were hanging around longer, maybe I would have dressed for it!!