Not being naked during labour

[Ashchall95]

Hi everyone FTM here!
I know everyone says once your in labour you won't care or notice i but I know and my only birth wish or plan is that I won't be naked at any point, I have bought some button up nighties and oversized T-shirts, I know they are going to get ruined and thrown away I am more than happy with that, I just want to ask was you forced or put in any situation that you had to take everything off? Or are the midwives happy for you to remain with a nightie on? Obviously my bottom half will be bare which I'm fine with I just don't want everything out at once! If I let the midwives know I would like to remain covered were possible are they happy to make sure this happens? Then once baby is born I will just undo my buttons for skin to skin and then shower later and put fresh pyjamas or clothes on?

I was in shorts and a t-shirt, and it went so fast in the end that I didn't even have time to take them off 😅the shorts came off halfway through my 4 hour labour when my waters burst but the t-shirt stayed on. Your choice what you want to do and wear

I hated the idea of getting naked. I turned up at the hospital 45 mins into my labour and at 10 cm dilated. I was boiling hot and so in the labour zone (thinking about nothing else except what was happening in my body) that I started stripping in the corridor. That, combined with my mooing was all the assessment they needed to take me straight into a labour room! an hour later when it was all over, I realised I still had my bra on.

I always thought I’d want to stay covered up but every single time I just couldn’t bloody stand the feeling of clothes on me and wanted to be naked…your midwife won’t care either way as long as you’re comfy

I ended up labouring naked all 3 times. I was in and out of a birthing pool and I was at home which may have made the difference.

Like you, I worried endlessly about nakedness as well as pooing during labour. The reality was that the whole street could have seen me and I wouldn't have cared. I was hot and bothered and in plenty of pain and any clothing would have felt unbearably restrictive.

I am absolutely not an exhibitionist by nature, so this very much goes against my presets. I never bothered with a birthing plan, I just had some vague conversations with my husband so that he could advocate for me if it became necessary. I was, however, very clear that all of my opinions were subject to change and that he was to listen to me above all else in the moment.

@Elnetthairnet

I always thought I’d want to stay covered up but every single time I just couldn’t bloody stand the feeling of clothes on me and wanted to be naked…your midwife won’t care either way as long as you’re comfy

I had a gown on (epidural), but at some point the sheet or cloth or whatever was covering me from my waist to my thighs started really annoying me so I chucked it off. Midwife put it back. This happened a couple of times and then she asked if I wanted it. No, I didn't, that's why I kept removing it.

I have no idea what the problem was, either with it and why it annoyed me so much, or the midwife and her difficulty accepting I wanted it gone - that must rate pretty low on the scale of odd behaviours in labour.

I felt like this. Bizarrely (for me) for my first birth I took my nightie off, I think maybe I was hot and didn’t care at that point, but second and third babies I had my nighty on the whole time. I’d recommend something roomy! And yes I then just unbuttoned it to feed. Good luck OP!

Absolutely fine. I was in my pj's right up until they popped my waters for me. They just slipped my bottoms off and my pj top remained. Once my DD was born, they asked me if I wanted skin to skin and helped me to lift my top up but there was absolutely no pressure to be completely nude.

I bought an oversized men's T-shirt to wear while labouring but ended up getting naked as fast as possible as soon as I got into the delivery room. It felt right to me! Apparently now I am in the minority.

DC2 came really fast, I remember struggling to take my bra off between pushes.

Hospital gowns are great - wear them back to front for boob access/skin to skin and the right way round if you need an epidural. And the nhs are responsible for laundering them as an added bonus 😂

Most responses here seem to be midwife led rather than medical, but I ended up in surgery after both births and they were also obsessed with keeping me covered up to maintain my dignity.

What the fresh hell is this nakedness?? I've had 5 children and I've never been naked. You don't have to get naked and if someone has told you, you should then they are full of shit. I always wore over sized t shirts and socks for my cold feet. By my last, she came out while I still had my maternity leggings on, I had one leg in, one leg out. She was a fast delivery. I still had my t shirt and jumper on. I've seen all kinds of clothing in labour wards, never seen any naked mother's.

I did care during labour, I wore a nighty the whole time, I would have hated to be naked!

I had to take my top off to have an epidural, so was sitting there totally naked in front of the man who came in to do it. If you can get something that opens at the back it might be a good idea.

I have given birth three times I've never been naked where did you get that idea from

I was in a nightie, I was changed into a hospital gown when I had the epidural, and also when I went to theatre that was all.

I had my second baby, a daughter, wearing a lovely nightie,it was a dark pink silky one, with lace shoulder straps,and lace trimmed at the front. I gave birth on the back seat of our car, and our daighter delivered by my late husband in a hotel car park. He rushed into the hotel to phone an ambulance ( all before mobile phones) He rushed back to the car, followed by a member of the hotel staff, carrying two or three large white table clothes,to wrap our baby in.

I had to go to a hospital nearby to be stiched up, not the maternity place I was booked into for the birth. A nurse later gave my Husband my birthing nightie, and he took it home and washed it, and he came back with another nightie for me to wear, for when i went to the proper maternity home the next day..

I actually wore the lovely birthing nightie for ages afterwards, it was my favourite nightie, now with some memories attached to it.!! But I don't know what happened to the three white tablecloths !!

I got a loose black nightie, stretchy material, low neck. Actually it was quite nice and they suggested for that reason to swap it for a hospital gown so it doesn’t get ruined. I said I’d rather keep it on and that was that!
I completely get where you are coming from, remember it is your birth and your choice

No one will ask you to remove your clothes, but really your over thinking this.
I've had 2 water births, so chose to be naked then,and 1 standard birth on a bed, I had on something, can't remember what..possibly a hospital gown or a tshirt, as long as theres access for baby to get out, no one will care.

The only point at which I had to strip off was when my labour went pear shaped and I had to get prepped for theatre. In which case I had to swop t-shirt for a theatre gown. Otherwise I was clothes throughout....

I was naked for DC1 because I was roasting hot and v uncomfortable. I didn't care 😂 DC2 stripped to by bra, DC3 still in my clothes as he decided to only take 8 minutes. I always took a few nighties with me anyway

I was honestly the same as you before giving birth. Everyone said the same to me, I won't care bla bla I thought yeah right. Turned out after a 2 day labour I really didn't care and asked the midwife to help me take my top off mid contraction. I got so hot.

My second birth I had a gown on and didn't feel like taking it off. I will say though the midwife was great with my first, she could tell I wasn't comfortable being naked really and made sure to cover me over if anyone came in which I appreciated.

No way I was giving birth naked, I looked like a beached whale.
I wore a voluminous knee length nightie with buttons down the front.

As long as your care providers can see what’s going on down the business end when they need to, then what you wear the rest of the time is entirely your choice!!
DC1 was a hospital birth, and the room I was in was like a sauna. I was so ridiculously hot when I was properly in the throes of labour, I looked like I’d been swimming there was so much sweat! I ended up butt ass naked, but I’m generally quite cool with being naked!
DCs 2 & 3 were home births and I wore a sports bra and some loose tracksuit bottoms until it was crunch time, then just lost the bottoms and kept the sports bras on.

I had a nightie/oversized T-shirt on. Never got naked, no need.

I told my midwife I’d like to stay in a nightie for labour and she kindly went into my bag and then helped to dress me in a fresh one mid-way through active labour so I felt “refreshed” (her idea!)

I didn't want DH to see 'down there' during the pushing, and when he stepped out to go to the toilet just before I started pushing (it happened very quickly!) I asked the midwife to cover me while he came back in which she was more than happy to do. I laboured and birthed both my DC in a baggy long Tshirt and nursing bra so absolutely no reason for having to be entirely naked at all.

Even in the birthing pool I was given the option to bring a bikini top or a crop top.

I declined because at that point hardly anything fitted my boobs.

I had to give birth then on dry land, again, I was offered to change into a top but I actually gave birth start naked as even a sheet was driving me crazy.

The midwives just took my decision and carried on.

Saying that, you may want to opt for a short one or an oversized one which fully buttons up. Less fabric around your waist and easier to open for skin-on-skin.