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 had my first at home unexpectedly & arrived at hospital sans pants!

I doubt a pair of paper (surgical?) ones have ever been more welcome!

I don't remember taking my pants off tbh. I suppose I must have done at some point but honestly, in labour, what you are wearing is the least of your worries.

If it’s long enough then you won’t need to worry about not having knickers on! Trust me, when you’re in labour you won’t care!

I wonder if your husband's unreasonable "demands" are making you overthink & anxious?

I think he needs to work on his anxiety. Midwife here, we would never catheterise someone in normal labour because their husband was worried they’d have the baby in the toilet! It’s an infection risk. If you happen to go into the bathroom during labour let the midwife know if something changes while you’re in there! Some women do like to labour on the loo.

He really doesn't know much!

Everyone I know (who I've discussed it with!) wore t shirts or night shirts. I'm pretty sure I kept my knickers and leggings on until access was needed!

with first had nightie on as I was in hospital for few days before so just went from ward to birthing room. when my waters were broken got soaked so was given a hospital gown which was also needed for an epidural later on.
with my 2nd labour was so quick stayed in my dress just took knickers off then changed into a nightie later as she was born just before midnight

This is what i planned to do but the staff took off all my clothes "in case of a c section" and i was in too much pain from contractions to fight them off. I was given a flimsy gown but let me tell you, hospitals are COLD. I was fucking freezing and shivering non stop for HOURS, it made the whole ordeal much worse than it needed to be. I'm an assertive person but I was in too much pain to put anything back on myself. I kept telling them I was freezing and they denied it and said it was just adrenaline.

So wear what you like and make sure he is on board with supporting you before you enter the hospital. His job is to help you not to be telling you what to do, if he can't understand that he's a controlling misogynist with no place in the labour ward.

I truly think giving birth when i was ice cold probably contributed to my tearing too.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

I think this may not be a valid reason to be catheterised!😂

I wore a bikini with DC1 as I was in a pool for 10hrs. With bottoms ON.

With DC2 i was in a nightie but no knickers as actually I lost all inhibitions by that point.

But I found the whole thing worried me no end before hand. The thought of breast feeding freaked me out, skin to skin contact made me feel horrible when I thought about it. So on that basis I didn't hold the babies until they'd been wiped and cleaned and don't remember if they were naked or not I'd had so many drugs.

You have to make labour as close to the scenario you want as possible. Good luck OP

Some of the posts on this thread are hilarious and have made me feel better about giving birth myself!
I'm due to give birth end of June! My understanding is that knickers would just constantly get wet with some sort of bodily fluid! So there's no point really keeping them on.
I'm planning to wear a nightie, it's long enough that it goes mid thigh, and it's something I'll be comfortable in but can still go knickerless!! It's upto you how you give birth. They do have to do a lot of examinations though and you will need to be knickerless to push, and you'll most likely be pushing for a while.

I'm pretty sure that when I went into hospital I changed into just a long tshirt.

Omg. If only babies just slipped out when we went for a wee 🙄

If this is for real, he needs to gently be told to redirect his nerves/stress to elsewhere than you.
Like, literally anywhere else.

He supports you and the people around the both of you support the both of you. Support goes inward, stress outward. Like the circles of grief but the circles of support.

Let him Now (or let a midwife tell him) because this is pretty ridiculous.

First I was wearing normal clothes as I wasn't thinking about it and my waters broke before my labour. Just took them off when it was time to push. Kept top half on.

Second I wS wearing a dress and 3rd. 4th again I wore my normal clothes until the end.

Just do what you are comfortable with and ignore him. If you get hot, you can take it off. I think you are very sensible and a night dress and knickers is perfect

I laboured in a short nightdress on all four of my children's births there was no issue and it was very comfortable. Definitely didn't get in the way

I had a flannelette nightshirt, because it was December. Nobody told me the maternity ward would be hotter than the sun! If I was doing it again I'd go for a cap sleeve or sleeveless cotton night dress. DS was on monitors for some of it so I had wires coming from inside so no knickers possible. It's not the most dignified experience labour, but that doesn't mean you just have to go naked and forget privacy was ever a thing

I wore long T shirts each time, without pants
Bear in mind you're likely to be sweaty and wet as waters break and you may not have the energy to change and if you'd like an epidural or need a CS you will be gowned
These thoughts simply won't matter once you're focusing on bringing your long awaited baby into the world
Congratulations!

He's utterly clueless!

God, this thread is making me think. I'm pretty sure I was similarly obsessed about what i should be wearing to give birth, then the actual circumstances took over. For example, somehow I imagined that it would be great to give birth to the sounds of Bob Marley...when my partner tried to play Bob during the throes of labour, I could't have cared less.

Anyhoo, I'm pretty sure I gave birth to child 1 in a vest top, after getting in a birthing pool for ages then having to give up on that.

Child two came pretty quick...I was tripping on the gas and air and thought I was scuba diving and stripped naked as far as I can remember. Under normal circumstances I'd never prance around naked in a brightly lit room...or any room for that matter.

Child three...god knows. There are photos of me holding her against a suspiciously bare chest. Ah yes, I remember stripping my clothes off when I was in the throes of pushing her out...seemed like the right thing to do at at the time I think.

I think your husband should chill out a whole lot.

You can (and should) wear whatever you feel comfortable. I wore a nightie too but panties came off after my waters broke. My experience was that a lot of inhibitions went out of the window during labor so I wouldn’t worry too much now!

I work as a midwife. A lot of women birth in their night dresses. I would take either some old roomy ones that you won’t mind if they get spoiled or go and buy some cheap ones in primark.

Lots of women also wear knickers in labour, especially of their membranes have ruptured and they are wearing a pad.

The most important thing is to be comfortable.

You wont be able to keep your knickers on once the midwives are with you as they will want to examine you. But of course you can wear a nightie/nightshirt - I did with both of mine. Do whatever feels comfortable for you (except the knickers - you probably wont want to by that point anyway as - sorry if this is tmi but its not just the baby that comes out!)

Nightie for me but you will probably find that as labour processes you will be so hot you will probably tear it off. No real need for knickers as the midwife might want to check how far along you are.
There will only be the midwife there and your OH/Birthing partner but in the end you won't really care if you are in a football stadium with a 50,000 strong crowd 🥰🥰

If baby comes quickly the midwife will just cut sides of your knickers and pull them off. My son was in a hurry to make an exit and I can still see my knickers being flung on the floor!