The board battle at the company, which has had only three women directors in its 25-year history, illustrates the uphill battle females face in getting on corporate boards.

The winning slate, backed by a dissident pair of investors, includes three women, while the other had just one female.

What to expect when you're expecting ... more women on boards? That was the key question amid an under-the-radar proxy battle at retailer Destination Maternity. Shareholders were asked to decide whether prior board experience should preclude women from obtaining future board seats. They voted in favor of a dissident slate of board nominees on Wednesday, backed by investors Nathan Miller of NGM Capital and Peter O'Malley of Kenosis Capital. The winning slate had three women and one man nominee. On the losing side was a slate backed by the company, which nominated three men and one woman, the interim CEO Melissa Payner-Gregor. Earlier, the nominees by the dissidents, who together hold about 9 percent of Destination Maternity's stock, failed to obtain support from Institutional Shareholder Services, an influential proxy advisory firm, which makes voting recommendations for contested board nominations, among other subjects. ISS wrote in a May 10 report that shareholders should avoid voting for the dissidents' slate due to concern over "the fact that none of the dissident's nominees have previously served on public company boards." The dissidents fired back, pointing out the low proportion of women who currently hold that experience. As of the first quarter of 2018, the percentage of women on boards was 16.9 percent among Russell 3000 companies, according to Equilar. The dissidents say that if experience is a pre-determinant to board membership, then the gap between the number of women directors to male ones will never be closed.

"Chauvinistic trope"

"If the company's argument is this chauvinistic trope that women can't join the board because they've never been on as a director before, then this embarrassing situation in Corporate America will never be remedied," O'Malley, managing member of Kenosis Capital, a merchant bank, said in an interview with CNBC. CNBC requested comment from Destination Maternity five times over the course of five days. The company did not return CNBC's calls or emails but sent shareholders a letter Monday evening. After speaking with stockholders during the proxy season, Destination Maternity said the company reaffirms "our commitment to increasing gender diversity at the board level by identifying and appointing at least one additional highly qualified female director to the board as soon as possible." ISS declined to comment beyond its report. After Wednesday's vote, the company share price was down 2.5 percent. Shares of Destination Maternity have slumped 75 percent over the last three years amid management upheaval, a failed takeover bid and dwindling mall traffic that has cut into sales and profitability. The market cap is currently a mere $40 million, and the dissident investors say that if a turnaround doesn't happen quickly, the company wouldn't have long to survive. "I'd say a year is generous," said Marla Ryan, one of the dissident nominees and founder of Lola Advisors, a business consultancy for the apparel, beauty and wellness industry. Prior to her role there, she held senior positions at Lands' End and J. Crew. "This is a brand that's been around for such a long time and really has that brand equity and awareness. It shouldn't go away." "But we fear it may," O'Malley said. On the dissident slate, Ryan is joined by Holly Alden, the co-founder of Stance, a sock manufacturing company, and of Skullcandy, an audio accessory company. Also on the slate are Anne-Charlotte Windal, a retail consultant and former retail equity analyst, and Christopher Morgan, a senior retail analyst at the hedge fund Kingdon Capital Management.

Marla Ryan and Peter O’Malley. CNBC

Destination Maternity was founded in 1982 by Rebecca Matthias and her husband, Dan, who became the company's first chief executive officer. As of Feb. 3, the company operated 1,124 retail locations under the brands Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the Pod and Destination Maternity. They also lease retail space in other stores like Macy's, BuyBuy Baby and Boscov's, according to company filings. Recently, the company has faced tremendous challenges. It has not had a permanent CEO in eight months. Melissa Payner-Gregor is Destination Maternity's second interim CEO during that period. She's the company's first female CEO, albeit on a temporary basis. In its report, ISS said "the company's severe stock underperformance, negative financial results and poor succession planning strongly suggests that additional board change is warranted." The proxy advisory firm urged investors to withhold votes for the chairman, Barry Erdos and CEO Payner-Gregor.

Only 3 female directors in 25 years