Hi Joy,
Having worked in both systems I've seen Australian women who wear the
hospital gowns to prevent their own clothing getting soiled, but rarely did
I see American women in their own clothing. One of the things I used to
teach in class (in the US) was for women to bring their own clothing to
wear, to make them feel less like a 'patient' and more like a person. I
really feel that once we get women out of their own clothing/nighty whatever
and into an institutional gown we start to disempower them just a  little
more.
For my own experience in childbirth in an Australian hospital, I had to wear
a hospital gown to the operatiing room for the C/birth, but got changed into
my own nightgown (a breastfeeding one of course!) within a few hours and
wore my own clothing for the rest of my EIGHT (gasp shock horror) day stay

Kirsten
expat Aussie repatriated with glee this year

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