The due date is quickly approaching…..
Everyone is eagerly waiting to see the new addition to the family. The pictures that are taken will be in the albums forever…..
but wait, who is that unrecognizable monster in a hospital gown?
NOT YOU!
Finally there is A Dressed Up Delivery!
We at Pretty Pushers believe that you deserve to look your best when you work your hardest. The enclosed five items are sure to keep you feeling fabulous until the job is done!
I’m sure you’re dying to know what these five magical items are. 1) Pink lip gloss and a mirror 2) A “delivery dress” 3) A headband 4) A lemon-water towelette 5) Heated massage oil
As a doula who has accompanied women during childbirth I can tell you that the only useful thing in the kit is the massage oil and maybe the headband. Massage can be great for pain mediation during labor, and if your hair is long you might want it out of your face. Oh, and the mirror could come in handy, because some women like to see what they are doing as they push.
Perpetuating screwed up ideas about women’s beauty is already infuriating enough, but now we need to mix it in with childbirth. If you’ve ever actually been with a woman after she’s given birth, I’d say she looks pretty damn beautiful, sweat and all.
Cross posted at Feministing.com
Radical Doula 
This kind of crap is so infuriating. To me the best take-care-of-mom kit would be practical things that make her feel less like she’s in an institutionalized setting (if she’s in the hospital) and in more of a relaxed environment where she has some degree of control. There are no birthing centers here, and the only midwife in town works out of the hospital, so I was stuck there, but I did bring my own nightgown (a plain cotton night shirt) to avoid the hospital gown feeling, some chapstick, ankle socks to protect my feet from the freezing cold floor, and my own healthy snacks to avoid the crap at the hospital. If this kit just contained things to help you feel comfortable and relaxed, that would be helpful. But putting the focus back on your appearance is such bullshit.
Posting to let you know, I gave you an award!
I read this and laughed out loud, but in a sad, pathetic kind of way. This pack is completely useless, but it will sell like hotcakes, I am sure. I had a midwife attended hospital birth, didn’t care much about the gown (didn’t want my own clothes bloody and changed back into my clothes after my daughter was born), wore my hair in a pony tail, no makeup, and still think that the pics of me right after my daughter was placed on my belly are gorgeous.
You can’t pack wonderful supportive partners and doulas in a box anyway, and that’s all a woman needs to feel relaxed and beautiful!
Good find (in a gross way)!! I have been struck over and over again by how beautiful women in labor are. I curious about what the fancy gown looks like…
Oh my word. I have never been so disturbed.
This is probably the silliest and most insulting product I’ve ever seen!
just as a thought- some women might find this kind of silly thing relaxing to them. There are women who like to put on makeup before camping or running a marathon, and hell- more power to them if that’s what gives them that little bit of energy or confidence.
i am against the messages that many products like this send. but every woman is different, no birth is perfect for every woman. it’s important to remember that.
a grown woman should feel that she can choose this as her perfect birth if she wants to, without the guilt or shame of feeling that her birth wasn’t good enough or natural enough. it is still her birth.