Maybe a silly question about what to wear...

[mom2fussy]

I'm planning on going to a Birth Center to have our baby (due in a few days).  They don't provide gowns or anything, so I'm supposed to bring my own clothes to labor in.  And I still can't decide what to wear!

I don't want to walk around completely naked, and I do have a swimsuit top (and bottoms, if needed) for in the shower/birthing pool.  But I don't know that I'll actually deliver in the pool - I'm going to see how it goes.

Anything I can think of that opens easily in the front or is lower-cut in the front so I could hold the baby against my skin or nurse him is not something I want to possibly get blood or goop on.  Otherwise I have large T-shirts & things that are comfy & I don't care about messing up, but they're full-coverage in the front.

What have you used or do you recommend?  I don't want to buy something new just for this purpose (unless it was REALLY cheap) because money's very tight right now.

[Buddhamom]

Go to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army thrift stores.  They have a lot of maternity stuff that you could consider.

[Italiamom]

I would put money on the likelihood that you'll end up naked, buuuuut...

Costco sells these 2 (or 3, can't remember) packs of spaghetti strap tank tops.  They're cheap (around $12 I think), and the strap length on them is adjustable.  They have 2 kinds, the one with a shelf bra, and the one without.  Get the one without!  They make great nursing tanks because they're pretty stretchy (in the first few weeks postpartum I pretty much wore those+undies+robe exclusively).  But the ones without a bra would pull back easily to expose your chest, and wouldn't be constricted (NOT a feeling you will like in hard labor).  They should wash out pretty easily too.

I also recommend a comfy robe.  I have a big fuzzy one that I got when I was about 7 months preggo, and it was wonderful both pre and postpartum.  They're also pretty non-constricting.  I think I was wearing mine up until about 5cm, which was about the time that any clothing started to feel like sandpaper.  If you have (or can afford) 2 robes, that would be ideal.  1 comfy one, and one bathrobe.  After climbing in and out of the tub wet, the terrycloth bathrobe was nice to have too.

But, again, be prepared that modesty might go out the window a bit

[nerdymom]

I'm pretty conservative, but I ended up nude in front of my MWs. I was ok with it, though I doubted I would be beforehand. I had a sports bra on for a while, and while laboring out of the tub I wore one of these a little: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Simply-Basic-Women-s-Snap-Front-Breakfast-Gown/15078560 I wore it a lot in my last 3-4 weeks because it was so comfy. And it's short (if you are tall like me) and snaps open, is easy to get on/off.

[LaurenAnanas]

I wore an huge old, ratty, extremely soft t-shirt.

Baby wasn't 100% skin-to-skin on my chest, but with all the holes and threadbare fabric, she may as well have been! When it was time to nurse, I already had a sheet up over my knees and waist and the midwife helped me remove the shirt.

My back-up outfit was an old beach cover-up with a really deep v-neck, which I actually ended up using around the house as a nursing top later on.

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

My birth clothes are a short cotton robe- something that covers my breasts and my butt but short enough to not get blood on, that will be easy to give birth in and easy to pull open to do immediate skin to skin. =)

~Rose

[Maurine]

I am a first-timer, so I can't really recommend anything, but a friend of mine gave me some good advice recently.  Make sure your birth partner brings a change of clothes, too!  S/he might get into the tub or shower with you, or get splashed, or get messy in any number of ways.  :) 

Good luck with your birth!!

[sosurreal09]

i brought a short jersey nightie but was naked within 1hr....

[memz]

I first had a shirt with loose shorts and a bathrobe....then the bathrobe came off, way to hot and then the shorts also because I kept leaaking all kinds of stuff, so I was butt naked the whole time which I thought I would mind, but couldn't care less.

[Mosaic]

For baby 1, I wore a hot pink maternity tank top and maternity gaucho pants. After a while I went down to my underwear (cotton and cozy!) and tank and delivered right onto my tank top which got totally icky but washed out perfectly.

I planned on wearing that same tank top for baby 2, but that birthing went faster than I thought. I went to the birth center in my work shirt (yup, I'd been at work that morning) and some large athletic shorts (I couldn't manage to put anything else on fully dilated) and ended up having DD right onto my work shirt and my very best bra! Needless to say, I stripped shortly after birth.

For the record, those washed out perfectly, too.

[KempsMama]

Does your hubby have any button up shirts that he no longer wears that you could borrow?  I lived in those at the hospital.  My hubby is quite a bit larger than I am though, and he had several he no longer wears.

[Cujobunny]

Originally Posted by KempsMama 

Does your hubby have any button up shirts that he no longer wears that you could borrow?  I lived in those at the hospital.  My hubby is quite a bit larger than I am though, and he had several he no longer wears.

I second that! I bought some cheap at a thrift store & took a few with me to the hospital. That way I could wear them in the tub, labour & deliver in them, open them up for skin to skin contact and breastfeeding. They were long enough that I didn't care that I wasn't wearing anything else with them :)