Maternity Patient Gowns: Specifying Gowns for Labour and Delivery

A good maternity gown gives the midwife and doctor easy access for monitoring, examinations, epidural care and delivery, while keeping the mother covered and comfortable through hours of labour. In practice that means a roomy cut, openings that can be undone one section at a time, a soft fabric that survives frequent hot washes, and enough stock for several changes per patient. The rest of this guide sets out what to specify and why.

Why labour and delivery gowns are different

A standard ward gown is designed for a patient who mostly lies or sits in bed. A woman in labour walks, kneels, leans over the bed, uses a birthing ball, sits in a shower and may move between rooms. The gown has to cope with all of that without riding up, gaping or restricting movement.

The clinical team also needs more access than on a general ward. During a typical labour, staff may need to:

• place and adjust abdominal monitoring belts
• carry out vaginal examinations
• site and check an epidural in the lower back
• insert and secure an IV cannula
• hand the baby straight to the mother for skin-to-skin contact after delivery

Each of those tasks is quicker and more dignified if the gown opens exactly where it is needed and nowhere else. The final say on what access is required belongs to the unit's midwifery and anaesthetic leads, so involve them before you fix a design.

Labour gowns also get soiled more than most. Expect to change a gown during labour and again after delivery, which affects how many you need (more on that below).

Openings and fastenings

Back opening

A full back opening is the most common base design. It gives access to the lower back for epidurals and lets the mother get the gown on and off without lifting it over her head. Ask for a generous overlap at the back so the gown does not gape when she is walking the corridor. The trade-offs between this and other closures are covered in back-opening vs wrap-around patient gowns.

Shoulder openings

Shoulder openings, closed with ties or press studs, let staff lower the front panel for skin-to-skin contact and early breastfeeding without removing the whole gown. They also make it easier to manage IV lines. If your unit wants one gown to carry the mother from labour through to the postnatal ward, shoulder openings are worth considering. The postnatal side of this is covered in more depth in nursing and breastfeeding gowns.

Ties, press studs or both

Fastening	Strengths	Watch-outs
Ties	Adjustable for a changing body shape; no hardware	Can knot in the wash; slower to undo in a hurry
Press studs	Quick to open and close with one hand; neat	Can pop open when the mother moves a lot; check durability over repeated washes
Mixed	Studs at the shoulders, ties at the back, for example	Slightly more complex to specify and check at sampling

Many units settle on press studs at the shoulders for quick access and ties at the back for adjustability. Whatever you choose, test it with wet hands and gloves during the sample stage.

Fabric and comfort

Labour can last many hours in an air-conditioned room, often with a mix of hot flushes and feeling cold. The fabric should be soft, breathable and opaque enough that it does not become see-through when damp.

Fabric	Feel	Laundry behaviour	Notes for maternity
Cotton	Soft, absorbent, cool	Can shrink and fade more over repeated hot washes	Comfortable against skin for long labours
Poly-cotton	Smooth, slightly less absorbent	Holds shape and colour well; dries faster	Better for high-turnover units with tight laundry cycles

A heavier weave helps with opacity, but too heavy a fabric becomes uncomfortable. Ask for a swatch or a sample gown and have it washed through your own laundry cycle a number of times before you judge it. The patient gown fabric guide goes into the detail of weaves and weights.

Small prints are popular in maternity units because they look less clinical and help hide light marks between washes. Plain colours are easier to match across reorders. Either way, choose a colour that distinguishes maternity gowns from general ward stock so they come back to the right department.

Sizing for pregnancy

A maternity gown needs more room across the abdomen and hips than a standard adult gown of the same nominal size. There are two common approaches:

1. A dedicated maternity cut. Extra width at the front and a longer front hem so the gown does not ride up over the bump. This is the most comfortable option but means a separate stock line.
2. Sizing up from standard gowns. Simpler stock control, but the shoulders and sleeves may be too big and the gown may still be short at the front.

If you choose a dedicated cut, agree the measurements with the supplier and check them on a range of real patients during a wear trial. Keep at least two sizes, with some larger sizes for mothers who need them. Length matters: a gown that sits just below the knee is usually enough for coverage when walking, without trailing on the floor.

How many maternity gowns do you need?

Maternity units usually need a higher stock per bed than general wards, because:

• gowns are often changed after delivery, and sometimes during labour
• some mothers stay in the gown for skin-to-skin and the first feeds, which adds soiling
• laundry turnaround does not stop for weekends and holidays, and births do not either

A practical way to estimate is to work from births rather than beds:

1. Take your expected births per day.
2. Multiply by the average number of gowns used per birth (agree this figure with the midwifery manager; observe a few weeks of real use if you can).
3. Multiply by the number of days in your laundry cycle, from soiled pick-up to clean return to the ward.
4. Add a buffer for gowns in transit, in repair and lost.

General par-level methods are covered in how many patient gowns per bed. For maternity, err towards the higher end: running out of clean gowns in a delivery suite is a much bigger problem than on a day ward.

Identification and laundry

Maternity gowns should be marked so they return to the right unit. A printed or embroidered name such as "Maternity" or the hospital logo near the hem or on the inside makes sorting faster and reduces losses, since gowns often travel with the mother to the postnatal ward and occasionally home. A distinctive colour helps too.

Check with your laundry or laundry contractor that the marking method and fabric suit their wash process. Your infection-control team will set the wash temperatures and processes for soiled maternity linen, so share the gown specification with them before you order.

A short checklist for your specification

• Opening type: back, shoulder or both, agreed with midwifery and anaesthetic leads
• Fastenings: ties, press studs or a mix, tested with gloved hands
• Cut: dedicated maternity shape or sized-up standard gowns
• Sizes and size mix, including larger sizes
• Length that covers when walking without trailing
• Fabric: cotton or poly-cotton, weight and opacity checked when damp
• Colour or print that identifies the unit
• Logo or unit name for laundry identification
• Quantities based on births, gowns per birth and laundry cycle
• Sample gowns washed through your own laundry before bulk approval

Ordering maternity gowns

MISHAREN makes reusable patient gowns to order at its own production unit in Konni, Kerala, with back-opening, wrap-around and shoulder-opening styles, ties, press studs or a mix, and cotton or poly-cotton fabrics in plain colours or small prints. Gowns are shipped to the UAE for each order and delivered across all seven emirates; the lead time, including shipping, is confirmed in the quotation. Orders typically start from 25 pieces, and an approved sample is kept on record so reorders match.

To discuss a maternity gown specification, see the patient gowns page or request a quotation.