What to wear for a water birth?

[Crazymummyto3]

I'm due our fourth baby in just over 5 weeks and hoping that I finally manage to get the water birth that I've always wanted this time! What did you/are you planning on wearing in the birthing pool?

Naked for both my waterbirths. It's a bath! And that lovely fuzzy newborn skin on yours in the water is just perfect

Naked,.didnt even bother putting a bra or bikini top on. Unfortunately then transferred to hospital so a dress which is what i gave birth in and then had to be thrown away.

I'm not keen on naked lol.

So I wore a tankini top. Suited me

I didnt have a water birth and still ended up naked i remember being soooo hot and just ragging my top off myself inbetween pushing

T shirt.

Can honestly say I felt really comfy and didn't like the idea of being completely naked.

Clearly in the minority but I'm not comfortable naked and wore tankini top for both water births. I was definitely 'with it' enough to know I did not want to be naked and to be able to put it on between contractions

I didn't want a water birth but if I had would expect to be naked. I spent some time in the bath in my first labour and didn't want to wear anything.

A towelling dressing gown is really handy if you need to get out, it doesn’t make you too hot.

I had a really cheapy sports bra/crop top thing from primark on. Also a nightie but I whipped that off as soon as I got in the room! The sports bra was cut off me after I gave birth and wanted to breast feed because it was too fiddly to get back over my head when it was wet

@WrapTrap
That's hilarious!

I thought I’d just be bopping around in there and when the time came I would take my undercrackers off and hey presto!
This made me laugh out loud 😂

I took a vest top I think, but like everyone else grand intentions also turned into naked! Why bother covering your boobs when the people in the room are watching a head come out of your fanny?!

And to do skin to skin after you’d have to take your top off anyway? Something I didn’t realise when I packed my vest top.

I too had a carefully chosen tankini top. But, by the time I actually made it to the delivery room and the pool was filling, shit was getting very real and I need to push. My clothes flew off as I was desperate to get in the water so ended up in there in my bra. The relief of the water was amazing. And, even though I was near naked, I couldn’t have cared less and water make you feel a bit more covered.

I wore a bikini top

A vest top. I was so desperate to get into the water that I got in with quite a few clothes on and stripped off once I was in!

I delivered 6 weeks ago. Wasn't planning on a water birth. It was so hot I took all my clothes off within minutes of arriving and just didn't care at all. If you do wear something make sure it is really loose. You won't want to be restricted.

I just wore a bra. I loved being in the water, I think it really helped me.

If you do wear something make sure it is really loose.

I disagree with this - Personally I think there is nothing worse than something loose floating about and it clings to you when you get out.

The reality is that you can't know what you'll want until you are there. Maybe taking a few different options is the way to go :)

Inflatable arm bands?

One of my few coherent memories of my first childbirth is struggling to pull my bra top off over my head, it was unbearably hot and sticky and I was so desperate to get it off that I asked the midwife to cut it off with scissors. So maybe something with a clip rather than something that pulls over!