stupid question - can you wear a bra during labor? if so, sports bra or nursing bra or just a regul

[Anonymous]

regular one? thanks. Am so mortified/concerned about the fact that I am just going to be totally naked in front of everyone - I know you get over it but I am fixated on it right now.

[Anonymous]

Oh honey, truly you will totally get over the weird feeling of being naked in front of everyone. And really the naked-ness is pretty much just from the waist down - I had one of those lovely gowns on the entire time and I didn't feel especially exposed in the breast area. It never even occurred to me to wear a bra (I was so uncomfortable in bras at the end of my pregnancy I took any excuse to take it off!), but I don't think that you would be able to - I at least had a bunch of monitors on me which would have been difficult with a bra on. I also ended up with a c-section and I'm sure I couldn't have had it on then. But if it's something that you care about, it doesn't hurt to ask.

[Anonymous]

Nope! Assuming you're in a hospital, you strip down to nothing. But they give you a hospital gown, so you're covered and nobody is looking at your top half. And it's true - you really and truly won't care!

[Anonymous]

Relax! That will be the last of your worries, you won't even think about it! The gown covers all that anyway.

[Anonymous]

I wore a nursing bra at Sibley - they said it was fine

[Anonymous]

You might be more comfortable in a sleep bra.

[Anonymous]

If you want a bra on, then you have every right to wear one! Yes, they'll ask you to take it off, and you politely say no thanks, that you want to leave it on. I wore a soft cup bra (no underwire) during labor because that was what was most comfortable. I have big saggy breasts and it never felt good to have them hanging, especially with all the sweating and moving that I did during labor.

[Anonymous]

I delivered at Sibley in December and was told by my L&D nurse to take everything off and put the hospital gown on . . . . I am a very modest person, but I got over the no clothes aspect of it all pretty quickly. There's just no other choice but to get over it, because everyone who comes in the room needs to examine you, once the baby is born you may want help breastfeeding, etc. By the time I got out of there four or five days later (I had a c-section), I pretty much would have walked down to the car and gone all the way home with no clothes on.

[Anonymous]

Pick no bra or nursing bra. Assuming you plan to BF, you'll want to nurse right away and you may have needles in your arms. I had no needles but wore a regular tank - which was a total PITA for nursing and delayed it until I was able to break free of it.

[Anonymous]

When I was in labor with my son, I had a nursing bra on and halfway through I asked my husband to help me take it off. I was so hot, I didn't want anything extra constricting me. The hospital had no problem with me having it on, but I wanted it OFF!!

[Anonymous]

I hear ya. I had to two huge concerns with L&D - pooping in front of of the doc and nurses and being naked (as if spreading your legs wasn't humiliating enough). I had a gown and wore a bra underneath (for extra covering...as if it made a difference), but it was a nursing bra so I could easily unlatch it since I nursed right away and didn't have to tangle around with unlatching the back clips.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I lost all sense of modesty after giving birth. Lying spread eagle on the bed while the nurses cleaned me, inserted a catheter, and drained my bladder with my husband watching was nothing to me. You do what you gotta do.

[Anonymous]

thanks for the replies...am also worried about the going to bathroom during labor....i guess there isn't much i can do other than just suck it up - so to speak

[Anonymous]

What exactly do you mean about going to the bathroom during labor? Are you referring to just in general? Unless you get an epidural, you are absolutely allowed to go to the bathroom. If/when you need to go, you simply get up and go - your room will have its own bathroom. If you happen to be hooked to the fetal monitor, than you just unhook yourself and go. Don't let anyone tell you that you are not allowed to! If you do get an epidural, then you usually are not able to feel the urge to pee, so that is why they would give you a bladder catheter. As for the potential of pooping when you push the baby out at the very end of labor, well you should know that about 80% of all women push out a little poop at that time. It is so common, and a good doctor or nurse will be right there waiting with little wipes to clean it away before anyone even notices.

[Anonymous]

I ended up wearing the loose-fitting sports bra that I had on when I started labor. The whole thing went so fast (much to my surprise) that I never got around to taking it off. It didn't get in the way and the nurses didn't care.