To labour in my nightdress

[Coolsummer25]

I’m due a baby girl late July. I’m a very private person so would like to labour in a nightdress and with my knickers on. Dh thinks I’m being ridiculous and says he’s never heard of woman doing labour this way and that I will be too hot etc.

I think it’s his anxiety as he’s been reading a lot of birth horror stories. He’s more stressed than me. He constantly worries at every twinge there is something wrong with her.

Tell him he'll need a catheter so he doesn't disappear off to have a wee.

With all due respect OP, your husband is either a nervous control freak, or a controlling idiotic asshole.

Don't GIVE A CRAP ABOUT WHAT HE WANTS. This isn't a joint venture, this is labour that ONLY you will go through. He is merely a spectator. He gets no opinions.

Please PLEASE FOR GODS SAKE do NOT let him dictate anything to you.

His sole job is to support you throughout Labour however you bloody want and need!

Yeh things don't always go to plan .They haven't read your birthplan .

Don’t over think it OP, just go with the flow at the time. Once you are in established labour, your won’t worry about anything else.

I think nightdress and pants is fine for early/middle labour but pants will obviously have to come off and midwives will need to keep checking towards the end so taking pants on and off to be examined is impractical. You don't need to be exposed, you can have a blanket/sheet over you if you are on a hospital bed. Honestly, I think a lot of women think they're going to be embarrassed/shy/modest but in my experience once in full blown labour that all goes out of the window! A lot of women get very hot and strip off 😏 you really don't have to be embarrassed in front of the midwives - they look at fannies all day every day and if you tell them you're feeling a bit exposed they will do everything they can to put you at your ease.

He sounds a bit of an idiot. What’s it got to do with him? A nightdress or similar is completely normal to wear! Does he think you’re going to pop the baby out in 5 minutes? A sports bra is a daft idea too. It’s too constricting and who wants to wrestle with that when you’re trying to put baby to the breast?

It’s up to you what you wear. I wore a maternity dress early on and then swapped to a nightshirt. I had a few nightshirts actually. The one I gave birth in had buttons half way down the front and was ideal for feeding. I think it was an actual maternity nightshirt. It looked great and was very comfortable. I kept my pants on most of the time too. The midwife won’t care.

I doubt that will be comfortable or possible. MW will want to keep an eye on progress.

I laboured in a nightie, my knees were generally covered, it was fine.
You may want to rethink the knickers, it’s a bit hazy but i remember a lot of goo being involved. Plus you really won’t want the faff and discomfort of dealing with shifting around removing them when you’re crowning, wanting to know if you’re crowning, checking dilation.
The catheter thing is nuts.

Tell him next time he's in labour he can wear whatever he likes.

I also wore just a big night/t shirt.

For after I had something like the birthing dress linked to.

I think it was from M&S & sold as a summer dressing gown!

I disagree. He isn't just saying what he thinks might be helpful. He's told the OP she's being ridiculous, which is the opposite of being helpful!

You're going to have take them of and on so often you'll get fed up in the end. Particularly if it's a long labour.

They won't just give you a catheter. Honestly the staff have seen many births and you probably won't need to wee at the crucial moment. If you do it will be among other fluids. He needs to back off with his opinions,

I’m finding your DH chat a bit concerning! Hopefully he’s just an anxious klutz but who does he think he is, saying he wants you to get a catheter etc. He needs to understand that this is YOUR JOB and you will do it in the way that makes you most comfortable. If he’s been reading so much then he will understand that anxiety and stress in labour is less conducive to a smooth ride, and he will back off with his daft ideas about what you should wear and do.

Its obviously his baby and he cares but the actual doing of labour - completely your gig, I’d be telling him to back right off and also stop discussing the minutiae like that with his sisters.

Hi OP
this is what I did! It was fine but no knickers 😳 for obvious reasons!
midwife tried to get me into hospital issue gown because I might ruin my nightdress but completely supported me when I wanted to remain in said nightdress 😀
they offered me a catheter I was reluctant as I’d had UTI recently so they gave me a temporary catheter which I believe is a thing and comes out straight away after the birth. Or… it was just a catheter that was put in and taken out immediately after birth I cannot say for sure since I was intoxicated by gas and air.
Also just to add, if they say they want to get you on your hands and knees you don’t have to do it! I didn’t but I heard it said 😅
I was intending a water birth but when the midwife said the pool was a bit yucky I decided against so glad it did was it was just fine on a bed in labour ward.
I can highly recommend an Elle tens machine
It’s your birth no one elses, tell hubby into F off if you have to. Own it, wishing you all the best x

I think when the time comes you might just not care.
I was very worried about similar but your body just takes over at one point and you really don’t care one bit.
Hope you have a great experience :)

Nightdress, t shirt, vest, anything is fine!

I gave birth 6 weeks ago. I think wearing pants is silly, but a nightdress is fine, I wore one - but I was bloody hot. My nightie was up just under my boobs for active labour because I felt like I was melting.

Plus, the NHS literally tell you to bring an old nightie. He’s talking shite!

https://www.nhsinform.scot/ready-steady-baby/pregnancy/preparing-for-parenthood/what-to-take-with-you-for-labour-and-birth/

OK he needs to calm the hell down, nobody is needing a catheter. I think if he acts like a total idiot in the labour room you can just get the midwife to kick him out!

If you really do want to think about taking your pants on & off I would say as baggy & loose as possible so that you could pull up & down & step in & out easily.

Once you're "in the thick of it" so to speak it might not be on your mind at all.

Especially if you are wearing for example a longish tshirt that you feel covered enough in.

If you were thinking of just a sports bra on top no wonder you were thinking about keeping pants on when possible!

I think I’d burst out laughing if my husband told me what he wanted me to wear while in labour (or honestly in general). That being said I wore a nightdress when I had my son - the knickers came off at some stage but I’ve no idea at what point - all that stuff seems important before but I remember being in labour and just thinking I literally couldn’t care about being discreet anymore 😅

He also wants me to get cather in as he’s worried about me having the baby in the loo.

Say what now?

He's starting to sound erm odd?

I don't think women can just request a catheter can they?
(And why would you want to?)

I wore a nightie the whole
time. I can’t actually remember when my knickers came off and never went back on. I had a catheter after so there weren’t any for a while.