Expectant mothers benefit from a Bowling Green-based business created by two local nurses who saw a need for style and functionality in the hospital delivery room.

“Posh Pushers – Labor Gowns by Labor Nurses” was started by Kim Roemer and Emily Campbell in 2011. They both now work part-time at The Medical Center in Bowling Green on the second floor labor and delivery department.

They have sold thousands of the brightly-colored gowns. They used to hand sew the garments sitting at the kitchen table while their children scampered underneath. Roemer said it would take three hours to cut the fabric, sew the gown and then wrap it for shipping.

Now the gowns are manufactured for them and available at poshpushers.com.

The idea of a hospital gown that allowed functionality – ways to hook up medical devices, such as a fetal heart monitor, without ripping or clipping the gown – first came to Campbell when she was pregnant with now 6-year-old Darby. 

There wasn’t a gown that Campbell liked. She has worked at The Medical Center for a dozen years and Roemer seven years.

“This is a special time in a person’s life when we get to be part of the miracle of child birth,” Campbell said.

“We are the hands, eyes and ears of the doctor and support for the mom and the family,” Roemer said.

Expectant mothers want to wear a nightgown for the delivery but it is not functional, Roemer said. “We don’t want them to feel like a sick patient” having to wear the typical hospital gown that won’t close up in the back, she said.

Andrea Sherrill of Bowling Green said she wore a Posh Pusher when her daughter, Eisley, came into the world almost eight months ago.

“It was fashionable but comfortable,” Sherrill said.

Sherrill said she had a couple of friends who wore Posh Pushers and thought it would be fun to try one during her Valentine’s Day delivery. “It’s a fun way to celebrate a special occasion.”

Just as it sounds, the name for the gowns came from the nurses’ desire to give women the option to labor in style.

Posh Pushers retail for $49 and options include “The Darby,” a pink polka dot pattern; “The Stella,” a light pink pattern; “The Liam,” light blue pattern; “The Shepard,” white polka dots on blue; “The Kennedy,” a 1960s vintage white gown with pattern; and “The Emerson,” a blue gown with shapes in different colors and styles.

The women also sell the custom Posh Pusher. Customers provide their own 2.5 yards per gown and an extra half yard for the baby gown. That price is $35.

Baby onesies retail for $15, baby gowns for $30 and baby beanies for $7.

Lisa Holeman, manager at Chatters in Bowling Green, stood beside a display of Posh Pushers in her store. Roemer was once one of her employees.

“Most of the time when people come in, they know we have them. We are so proud of them,” Holeman said of Roemer and Campbell.

Kathy Scariot, owner of Heart Strings & Chatters has been instrumental to the women’s success, Roemer said.

“Emily and I met in 2007 while I was working in Kathy’s shop while in nursing school and Chatters was the first to place a wholesale order with us after they were manufactured. They are sold there now at 840 US 31-W By-Pass,” Roemer said.

The gowns are also found at stores in 10 other Kentucky cities and towns and several states. Locations are listed on the website. Posh Pushers will be available at the Expectant Parent Fair at The Medical Center-Western Kentucky University Health Sciences Complex from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, and the owners will be offering special prices at their booth.

Holeman said she’s re-ordered Posh Pushers three times since May .

Roemer said the gowns can be a keepsake after a delivery and perhaps passed on from mother to daughter. More than 3,000 gowns have been sold since the manufacturer came on board and the wholesale launch started this past summer.

Roemer and Campbell have four children between them, all born in the business’ formation stages since 2011. They say Posh Pushers make great baby shower gifts or a baby registry item.

“Don’t push without us,” Roemer and Campbell said.

— For more information, visit www.PoshPushers.com.

 — Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.