Birthing Gowns for Labor

by Cindy Lintel, creator of BG Birthing Gown

“Do I have to wear THAT?”  Is the question that changed my life.  My name is Cindy Lintel.  Lucky for me I have been a Labor and Delivery Nurse for over 30 years.

In 2009 a gal came in to my Birthing Center and asked if she really had to wear ‘that hospital gown’.  It was this question and Kristin’s birth that changed forever the way I see women birthing their babies.

Wearing her favorite maternity dress, Kristin seemed to sashay through her labor.  She was having her first baby and yet, there was an energy…a confidence … an ATTITUDE that I rarely saw and I wondered what Kristin’s secret was?

Unlike generations of women before her, Kristin had not been stripped of her personal belongings and made to wear a worn out ill fitting “gown” that some stranger had worn the day before. Instead of being dressed like a sick patient, Kristin kept her clothes on!  She wore a dress that FIT her, made of a soft COMFORTABLE fabric, a dress that COVERED her!   My Ah-ha moment came when I realized Kristin was dressed for her baby’s birth!

After much research, I realized there were very few birth wear options, so I went about to create the BG Birthing Gown.  I knew the dress had to be medically appropriate. I didn’t want women to be told they could not wear it.  For the medical staff, I put Velcro at the shoulders for easy access for IV’s, vital sign monitoring and EKG accessibility…More importantly, I put Velcro at the shoulders to create the easiest access for breast feeding babies! In the BG,  moms only expose one breast at a time, as compared to the hospital gown, where women wind up bearing all while breast feeding in a hospital gown.

The BG was designed as a wrap style dress, as a one size fits most design, in a soft and stretchy Rayon/Lycra blend.  Women are CONFIDENT and COMFORTABLE knowing they are COVERED and wearing a dress that FITS! If mom wants a back massage, or if needs anesthesia in the BG, she unties and the back opens from side to side for best in back exposure.  The BG has belt loops in the front, so when she is untied, her ties always stay in the front! 

It is a joy to know I have helped thousands of women to Celebrate their Births Beautifully well beyond the walls of my Birthing Center.  Knowing women like Kristin are empowered instead of feeling vulnerable, more inclined to participate in their birth process, walking the halls, moving, swaying and sashaying through their labor with a new energy…confidence…a great attitude, being mindful of their births, not worried about being over exposed in the hospital gown.

To Dress for Your Baby’s Birth, please visit WWW.BIRTHINGOWN.COM or WWW.BIRTHWORKS.ORG. Best of luck at your Birth!