What to wear for a water birth?

[Alligatorpie]

I am hoping for a water birth, but am not sure what to wear. My dh won't be there, and his sister is my birth partner, so I think I might feel weird being naked - which is what my 2 friends did. I was thinking of wearing my swimsuit top, which is longish. What did you wear? Cheers!

Wore a vest - my shoulders were out of the water so was concerned about being a bit cool

The water was nice and warm tho

well i was naked, but yes a swimsuit top would be fine, but if you feel wierd being naked in front of your dh's sister will you not feel wierd giving birth infront of her, giving birth is a hell of a lot more intimate than being naked! just a thought, anyway whne it comes down to it once in labour you probably wont give a dam what you are wearing, just see how you feel on the day :)

I wore a black nursing bra . I didn't even want a water birth, but loved it.

"anyway whne it comes down to it once in labour you probably wont give a dam what you are wearing"

that is absolutely not the case for everyone! I hated being unnecessarily uncovered (didn't mind for internal checks etc, but DID mind if the sheet was left off after the checks were done! )

I wore a bra and vest top in the pool

I wore a tankini top. A lot of people will tell you you won't care who sees you by the time you're in and I do suspect that's true. When I got in, I gave birth within about 20 minutes so by that point I certainly was past caring. If it was a longer labour, I'd certainly want to be covered up I think.

I wore a vest top

which is why is said 'just see how you feel on the day'

i would think carefully about your birth partner, just because it is really important that you have someone you feel relaxed and at ease with, so if you are worried about her seeing you naked maybe think about why. you may want to stay covered up in labour you may not, i found clothes really annoying, tho when i had no 5 i 'think' i kept my vest top on, purely because i had a drip in situ and it was a pita to take it off.

when i got into the pool with ds4 i had my bra on but was taking it off as i got in i was desperate to get in the pool, he was born within 40mins of me being in the pool (labour less than an hour in total) hence being desperate to get into the pool, it was just very quick.

I wore a bikini and only too the bottoms off near the very end when the midwife insisted!

I am not worried about the actual delivery and my sil, but I think that I would prefer to labour wearing a swimsuit or tank. I think I will go with my tankini.

It is a second baby so I know all about losing inhibitions when in labour, but when my dd was born I was pushing in the car and she was born within 30 minutes of getting to the hospital, and it is all a bit of a blur.

I wanted a water birth, but ended up getting out as I couldn't get comfortable in the pool.

I started off wearing a black maternity bra (the really stretchy ones) - but I was fully naked within about 10 minutes, and remained naked until the LO arrived.

I packed but didn't get my water birth (dam u dd and taking a dump inside me!) but I just packed a halter neck tankini and a cami top. One that allowed skin to be out without baring all and to allow easy feeding afterwards. Tbh now it's all over n done with in labour I wouldn't have given too hoots if I was covered up or not

If your last birth was quick, this one may be even faster. If that's the case, you'll hardly have any labouring time to worry about, and what to wear...

Good to pack your choice of garment- I took tankini. Everyone is different and for me, although labour was v long, I had firm ideas on what I wanted to wear. Eg couldn't bear thought of a nightie - I associate it with being I'll in hospital, so wore a dress.
As for the water bit, despite my planning, was naked, and didn't care by that point, but wouldn't have believed I would do that prior to labour.

ill not I'll !

Sadly I didn't get my water birth yesterday with DD however for the time I was in there I was naked as a baby. Couldn't imagine it any other way for me and wasn't made to feel remotely funny by anybody in the room. I hope you are comfortable with whatever you go with.