What to Wear During Labour

It wasn’t until after my contractions started with our first baby, that I gave any thought to the subject of what to wear during labour.

Labour Begins

Three days before my due date, I was woken by mild contractions.

Of course I was so excited, I immediately woke up the hubster. He however, sensibly advised that it could be a l-o-n-g time before anything really happened, so we should both try to get some more sleep.

I tossed and turned with the occasional mild contraction until it was time to get up at 7am – which was when we realised that the hubster wasn’t going to work that day after all!

But What Will I Wear?!

At this stage it suddenly became overwhelmingly important to me to be dressed “just right” – after all, this was a pretty special occasion! What should I wear?!

I insisted that I needed to wear my favourite maternity dress (in the pic above), even though it was desperately in need of an iron, which took f-o-r-e-v-e-r! (I can’t remember if I actually ironed it though, or maybe it was the hubster?!)

I’m not alone however in my desire to “look nice” for the birth. Mia Freedman wrote in her book, Mama Mia, that she’d packed a Collette Dinnigan dress to wear during labour.

“Yes, I know this sounds ridiculous and it was only a smidge less ridiculous than it sounds. The dress was more like a slip, it was loose and comfortable and it wasn’t sequinned or beaded or anything like that. But I was appalled by the thought of ugly hospital gowns and wanted something a bit nicer to wear during the most important moment of my life. And you know, for the photos immediately afterwards.”

However she too very quickly learned that when you are in labour, what you are wearing tends to be the least of your concerns!

Back to the Birth Story

Eventually we were on our way to the hospital in morning peak hour traffic.

We were stopped at a red light, when the people in the car next to us let us know that our muffler was falling off. Seriously?!

Oh well, at least hubster got to utter the immortal words, “But mate, my wife’s in labour!”

By 9.30am we were settled into the birthing suite and I had a monitor strapped on to check on baby.

When the contractions grew stronger, I opted for a hot shower but alas, didn’t find any relief.

And guess what – by this stage I didn’t care WHAT I was wearing! After my shower, I donned the standard hospital gown.

Around lunch time I demanded an epidural (full story available in my post, The Epidural and The Exorcist, LOL). Wish I’d known about hypnobirthing classes back then!

Our son entered the world at 8.46pm after 18 hours of labour.

Was it worth it? Well, I think you can tell by the look on my face 😉 .

Sentimental fool that I am, I kinda wish I’d kept that dress, however after my two pregnancies I gave it away for another expectant mother to enjoy.

Oh, and just look at that baby now … it’s his 23rd birthday this week!

Did you have something special to wear during labour – or have you read Mama Mia? (With Mother’s Day coming up, I’ve already told the kids I’d love a copy of Mia Freedman’s new book, Work Strife Balance 😉  !)