Loula Labor Gown
An Innovative Concept Born from Hands-On Experience
MADE Apparel Services helped me to create Loula into an adjustable and practical garment which changes with your labor. It may be worn as a gown or as a two-piece bra and skirt combination and has features that work with each stage of birth.
~ Melanie Webster, BirThings
The Designer: Melanie Webster
Melanie Webster, a Labor and Delivery nurse and mother of two, had a visionary idea to design a comfortable and practical gown for women to wear during their labor and delivery. The design would help mothers feel dignified and covered with options to make adjustments to accommodate medical equipment when necessary.
The Problem and Opportunity
Melanie knew first-hand that when pregnant mothers arrive at the hospital to give birth, they’re given the same standard-issue hospital gown every hospital patient receives. That gown is uncomfortable, clinical-feeling, and hardly practical for labor. From the way the gown ties to the thin fabric to the light color that shows off every mess from birth.
She believed that mothers deserved to have a gown they could wear during labor that was comfortable and practical in design and also used gorgeous prints to hide the appearance of the body fluids present during childbirth
Working with moms in a hospital setting for more than twenty years, Melanie knew there was a gap in the market for such a garment. Thanks to her hands-on experience in the labor and delivery room and her own experience, Melanie had the knowledge and passion to create a product that would fill that need. Melanie designed the gown she wished she’d had while birthing her two sons.
The Goal: Design and create a comfortable and practical gown that helps mothers feel dignified during labor while camouflaging any bodily fluid stains that result from giving birth.The Obstacle. Melanie knew what she wanted to create but didn’t know how to begin. She started working with a dry cleaner/alterations business to help create a pattern and rough sample but quickly realized their skills had limitations. Through a Google search, she found Heather at MADE Apparel Services.
The Project
After an initial conslutaiton, we determined she needed to refine her design, test her product with real moms, and then create a comprehensive Tech Pack so she could proceed to manufacture.
Timeline
Melanie worked with Heather for about six months. Most of that time was spent testing the product on real moms and coming up with new ideas and improvements.
The Process
Pattern Review & Product Details
Heather worked with Melanie to conduct a pattern review and fine-tune the details of the product. This took a bit of collaborative ingenuity on how to wrap the skirt for coverage as well as function. Melanie also needed to determine which types of materials to use and which fasteners would work best to connect the skirt to the top. While Melanie initially wanted to use velcro, she decided to use snaps upon advice from Heather that snaps are easier to manufacture and will function better in the hospital setting.
Testing the Product
With each version of her design, Melanie tested her product with friends and moms in her care, asking them to wear the gown during their labor to find opportunities to perfect and improve the design. This cycle of testing and refining is what we call iterating to get the design just right before manufacture.
Preparing for Manufacture
Once Melanie defined her product and reached the ideal design for the labor gown, Heather created a size range and size chart. Heather wrote the Tech Pack while Melanie contacted manufacturers and sourced materials in bulk.
Outcomes
Melanie was fortunate to find a manufacturer fairly quickly. While sourcing fabric for her design, she found a reliable supplier in Los Angeles with manufacturing connections. When she sent the supplier her Tech Pack, they knew right away that she was a serious product designer who was ready to launch. They connected Melanie to their manufacturing partner overseas and another business with a maternity line that was interested in carrying her labor gown in their store. Without a professional Tech Pack, her supplier would not have known she was ready for manufacture, and the connection may not have been made.
Conclusion
With Heather’s expertise and guidance, Melanie was able to create the labor gown she envisioned that was comfortable, camouflaged the messiness of childbirth, and was adjustable for each stage of labor and delivery. Working with Heather not only made the launch possible but made the design experience less stressful and much smoother.
Do you have an idea to improve a product? Have reference images ready to go? Book a consultation with Heather to discuss pattern-making. Not sure where you are in the process? Check out our “How It Works” page for answers.