Childbirth couture - Stylish or silly?

by Bethany Sanders (Subscribe to Bethany Sanders's posts) Aug 10th 2008 4:00PM

Categories: Pregnancy & Birth, Mommy Musts

I think we can all agree that hospital gowns are horrible. They're shapeless, come in terrible colors, and open in the back, forcing you to either wear two gowns or a bathrobe to keep your backside to yourself. During labor and delivery, I felt like I kept getting tangled up in the yards of fabric. And don't get me started on the two-tie system on the neck.

But there's a reason that women give birth in hospital gowns. For one, they're all access. For another, childbirth can be messy and who wants to be concerned about ruining a favorite gown in the middle of pushing out a baby?

The Dar-a-luz challenges the notion that we all need to have our babies in shapeless shifts, however. The "birthing dress," which sells for $98, is made from organic cotton and comes in violet or steel blue. I have to admit, it's pretty cute and looks very comfy. Its sleeveless style is sure to keep a laboring mom cool and would make for easy nursing. I'm not the kind of women who spends $100 on a dress like this, but if I was, I'd save it for lounging around in after the baby was born and I wanted some decent family pictures!

What about you? Would you buy a special gown or birthing dress for giving birth?

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Comments (8)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Carolyn 8-10-2008 @ 6:45PM

Silly. And to be honest, a bit irritating.

Who cares if hospital gowns aren't haute couture - the point is not to look chic, the point is to have a baby. We spend our entire lives trying to look just right, I think we can give ourselves a break in the birthing suite.

Carolyn
http://www.momsontheedge.ca

Lisa 8-10-2008 @ 7:06PM

What about comfort? I've worn a hospital gown and it was huge and didn't stay on. What I usually find comfortable at this size (38 weeks), is a tank top and athletic shorts, it probably wouldn't work well for labor & delivery. What else works, especially if you know you'll be having monitoring belts on? I don't want to pay $100 for a labor outfit :)

Leslie 8-11-2008 @ 8:51AM

For me, the BEST thing about hospital gowns was that SOMEONE ELSE DOES THE LAUNDRY!!! I just don't get the point of buying something nice, getting it all messy, and then having to wash it myself.

Pavlina 8-11-2008 @ 9:35AM

I did wear my own garments, twice. A a matter of fact I wore the same gowns. I had two natural births and they never got "messed up" I still have them! I have to admit, when I was pushing I wasn't fussed about my gown getting mussed. If your the type to get mussed about it I would suggest going with the hospital gown. Honestly, I like that you mentioned the gown, but I don't like the soft-core judgmental tone of the post. Women seem to have a million things to argue about when it comes to childbirth anyway. I say the right way is the way the woman herself decides, end of story.

Dreamer417 8-11-2008 @ 4:09PM

You don't HAVE to wear those hospital gowns- it's just suggested. When they handed me mine, I simply said -'No thanks!" and gave birth in a sarong I'd worn my whole pregnany and loved. I used built-in-bra tanks for nursing- comfy & they hold they hold nursing pads in place. Spend the $100 on a massage or your dinner and dessert of choice after the baby's born- you'll both want AND deserve it!

toni 8-18-2008 @ 11:30PM

i wouldnt buy a gown for that much. it sounds really nice but there are so many other things i could get for the baby for 100$ that would last longer.....

Mandy 8-12-2008 @ 10:48AM

Who says you have to wear a hospital gown? Give birth at home - you can wear whatever you want!

Savanah 8-23-2008 @ 11:01PM

Gwen Stefani just gave birth to Zuma Nesta Rock (??) in a designer BYOG hospital gown. Check out the article on E! oh found the website too www.shopbyog.com

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