Laboring in Style, Recovering in Comfort - Gownies & Pretty Pushers

So mom’s what do you labor in? Do you wear the traditional hospital gowns? Do you go bare? What do you deem as comfortable? I want to share with you today some alternative options that I have fell in love with while giving birth and recovering.

I am currently preparing for labor. I have less than 4 weeks left to deliver our 5th baby so I will be doing a few posts surrounding this topic as the weeks close in.

Before Comfort Gown Awareness

This is a picture of me in labor with our first baby in 2010 breathing through the contractions. Being my first time, I was nervous and didn’t want to labor at home. Although I had studied, went through my doula classes it was still mysterious of what I was going to face during my labor. I decided to labor in the hospital the whole time close to my midwives for support and guidance.

This is what I was wearing when I first arrived...my pajama pants and my husband’s t-shirt. It was uncomfortable for me when the nurses had to keep pulling my shirt up to put the monitor around me (I only do intermittent monitoring instead of continuous so I can move around). During a contraction I don’t want to move nor do I want anyone touching me. All I want to do is concentrate on breathing and getting through each one without tensing up too much.

As labor progressed I changed into one of their hospital gowns and delivered in it. During my labor not only did I have my husband with me but I had a room full of women from my family. Both my moms, sisters and my best friend were all there with me. At some point I remember not caring who seen my body because I was so into labor and all of that modesty stuff went out the window. It was afterwards that I realized how uncomfortable I really was and how hard it was to stay discreet in that hospital gown.

When you get visitors in the hospital as a nursing mom it can get frustrating. We had soooo many guests come that my husband had to keep sending the men out when it was time for me to nurse. I had to keep untying the gown every time I needed to feed the baby. When the guests were in the room I didn’t even want to get up to go to the restroom because I knew my bottom would be all out in the open feeling a breeze of air as I was walking Lol! Even if you try to gather up the backside you still might have some skin revealed. There is just no privacy at all in those traditional hospital gowns.

My Recovery Gown

Then I met Gownies!! 💕 I started researching online to see if any other moms were feeling the same way I was about the traditional gowns. I was Amazed at all of the different styles and colors of these new modern and more comfortable labor gowns that were hitting the market. I had no idea these were even being made but I sure was excited about it.

In the picture above you can see the gownie unbuttoned right underneath the collar. This is easy access to breastfeed your baby. It is so easy to unsnap and snap up again which makes this gown very convenient. It covers you all the way up to your collar bone and you don’t have to keep adjusting to make sure it’s not falling off of your body.

In this picture above it is snapped up all the way. I really love the design of this gown because I can literally unsnap and snap it back up with just one hand. So if I am already holding my baby it’s no problem at all.

It has FULL coverage from top to bottom in the back as well. No more air breezes hitting your bottom! 😄 You won’t have to guess if your backside is peeking through or not, you’ll know it’s not.

When I am wearing these during recovery I am not shy of getting up and going to the restroom when we have visitors. I am also more comfortable with nursing because of the easy access and less fidgeting.

My Labor Gown

Say Hello to Pretty Pushers!!! I found these gowns and fell in love with the design. These labor gowns were made with comfort and easy accessibility in mind. They allow you to be free but still covered up enough where you are comfortable. More skin is showing in these but I personally like that because the less I have on when laboring the better. Women sweat and get extremely hot during labor so this definitely allows you to stay cool. As an added bonus you do feel and look pretty in them! 👌🏽

It is a halter design that has two ties in front of your belly. This will give hospital personnel easier and headache free access to your belly when needing to check or monitor you.

The picture below shows the back side. It also has a tie which lays about mid back. It has an opening from there that stops above your bottom so it can be covered up. They left an opening so that an epidural can be easily given without needing to untie or open anything, it’s already accessible. But we don’t need an epidural right? Right!! 😉

I picked this particular color and design for two reasons. I wanted to choose a dark color because I knew I would be wearing this again for the next baby. We all know how hard it is to make stains disappear on light colors. After I washed out all of the soils there were no visible stains. Secondly I could have my coffee all throughout labor! 😅

Some women may feel it is not worth spending the extra money on gowns just to labor and recover in. Some women may be perfectly fine with the traditional hospital gowns. Me...this is my treat! I have given birth Naturally with no medications or interventions whatsoever to 4 babies. Our bodies and minds already go through sooooo much when giving birth. I didn’t want to have to think or worry about more things like “is my bottom showing”, how am I gonna get this gown down to feed my baby” etc. I have found the more comfortable and relaxed I am the smoother my deliveries are...and to me its well worth it!!!

I hope I have enlightened some of you mommy’s today about these gorgeous, accessible, comfortable, cover up and convenient gowns~ 💗

Have you heard about or seen these before? Would you ever consider purchasing one for your own labor experience? Let’s chat!

•••All pictures are my own•••

Thank You for Reading!

Logo/Banner created by @rigaronib!