Packing list for the hospital or birth center
Reviewed by the BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board
Last updated: August 2009
You may want to pack two small bags for the hospital or birth center: one for the items you'll need during labor, and another for items that you won't need until after you give birth. (See a scheduled c-section packing list.) We recommend packing your bags when you're eight months pregnant, since you could go into labor at any time in the weeks before your due date. Here's a list of things that experienced moms recommend packing:
What to bring for labor
For Mom’s
· A picture ID (driver's license or other ID), your insurance card, and any hospital paperwork you need Your birth plan, if you have one
· Eyeglasses
Even if you usually wear contact lenses, you may not want to deal with them while you're in the hospital.
· Toiletries.
Pack a few personal items, such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, lip balm, deodorant, a brush and comb, makeup, and a hair band or barrettes. Hospitals usually provide soap, shampoo, and lotion, but you might prefer your own.
· A bathrobe, a nightgown or two, slippers, and socks.
Hospitals provide gowns and socks for you to use during labor and afterward, but most will allow you to wear your own clothes if you prefer.
Choose a loose, comfortable gown that you don't mind getting dirty. It should be either sleeveless or have short, loose sleeves so your blood pressure can be checked easily. Slippers and robe may come in handy when you're walking around during the early stages of labor.
· Whatever will help you relax
Here are some possibilities: your own pillow (use a patterned or colorful pillowcase so it doesn't get mixed up with the hospital's pillows), music and something to play it on, light reading material, a picture of someone or something you love, anything you find reassuring.
For your partner/labor coach
· A camera or video camera with batteries, charger, and memory card (or film or tape)
Someone has to document the big event! (Note: Not all hospitals allow videotaping of the birth itself, but there's usually no rule against taping during labor or after the birth.)
· Toiletries
· Comfortable shoes and a few changes of comfortable clothes
· Snacks and something to read
· Money for parking and change for vending machines
· A bathing suit
If you want to take a bath or shower during labor, you may want your partner to get in with you to support you or rub your back.
What you’ll need after you deliver
For Mom’s
- A fresh nightgown, if you prefer to wear your own.
- A list of people to call and their phone numbers, your cell phone and charger or, if you'll be using the hospital phone, a prepaid phone card.
After your baby's born, you'll want to call family and friends to let them know the good news. Make a list of everyone you'll want to contact ahead of time so you don't forget someone important when you're exhausted after delivery.
After many hours of labor, you're likely to be pretty hungry, and you won't want to rely solely on hospital food. So bring your own – crackers, fresh or dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, or whatever you think you'll enjoy. A bottle of nonalcoholic champagne might be fun for celebrating, too.
- Comfortable nursing bras or regular bras
Whether or not you choose to breastfeed, your breasts are likely to be tender and swollen when your milk comes in. This can happen anytime during the first several days after delivery. Once it does, breast pads can help absorb leaks.
- Several pairs of maternity underpants.
Some women love the mesh underwear usually provided by the hospital; others don't. You can't go wrong with your own roomy cotton underpants. The hospital will provide sanitary pads because you'll bleed after delivery. Make sure you have a supply of heavy-duty pads waiting at home!
The hospital will probably provide you with a book, but you may prefer your own. Of course, the postpartum nurses will be there to answer questions and show you how to change, hold, nurse, and bathe your newborn if you need guidance.
- Photos of your other children
When they come to visit, they'll see that you haven't forgotten them.
Some parents bring gifts for the new baby to "give" to big brothers and sisters.
- A notepad or journal and pen or pencil
Track your baby's feeding sessions, write down questions you have for the nurse, note what the pediatrician tells you, jot down memories of your baby's first day, and so on. Some people bring a baby book so they can record the birth details right away.
Bring something roomy and easy to get into (believe it or not, you'll probably still look 5 or 6 months pregnant) and a pair of flat, comfortable shoes.
For your baby
- An installed infant car seat
You can't drive your baby home without one! Have the seat properly installed ahead of time and know how to buckle in your baby correctly.
Your baby will need an outfit to go home in, including socks or booties if the clothing doesn't have feet, and a soft cap if the air is likely to be cool. Make sure the legs on your baby's clothes are separate so the car seat strap can fit between them.
The hospital will provide blankets for swaddling your baby while you're there, but you may want to bring your own to tuck around your baby in the car seat for the ride home. Make it a heavy one if the weather's cold.
What not to bring
- Jewelry
- Lots of cash or other valuables
- Medications, including vitamins.
Let your doctor know whether you're on any medications. The hospital will provide them for you if your doctor agrees that you should continue to take them while you're there.
The hospital will provide diapers for your baby while you're there. Leave your supply at home.
If you end up needing a breast pump for any reason, the hospital can provide one.
Tips from moms who've been there
"For the drive to the hospital, you may want to bring a towel you don't care about and a garbage sack. Put the garbage sack down on your seat and then the towel. That way, if your water breaks on the way to the hospital, you don't have to worry about cleaning the car when you get home." – Anonymous
"Bring both your glasses and your contacts, along with storage case and solution. I wore my glasses during labor with my first one, but it got so hot, the glasses just fogged up and I couldn't see what was going on – very frustrating. And just trying to wear glasses during delivery was annoying and one frustration I could've done without. So bring both. You may want to switch back and forth for comfort or convenience or whatever." – Anonymous
"I brought a few changes of clothes since they usually make you stay a few days after the baby is born. With hormones and everything, I sweated like crazy after I gave birth, so it was nice to change into some fresh PJ's or some sweats or shorts during the day especially with people always coming to visit. Just something that made me feel better." – groovitha
"Disposable underpants – best advice I ever got! The mesh panties they give you at the hospital with the sanitary pads are not so comfy...and once you get home, you probably won't be graduating to just a pad or pantyliner for a couple of weeks and you'll run out of the mesh panties before then!" – Anonymous
"Bring the baby book. They will need to get footprints and while they are doing it for the birth certificate they can use the rest of the ink and make prints for your book!" – Anonymous
"Bring baby nail clippers or an emery board. The hospital where my son was born didn't supply clippers for fear of liability, and as a result my son gouged his face before he was 12 hours old." – Jen
"One thing that I didn't realize I would need was nipple cream. I found breastfeeding hard to get used to and had to get someone to buy this stuff for me because my nipples got chapped!" – Portsie
"You may want to bring a few pacifiers. My daughter had a constant need to suck, so we gave her a paci on the second night in the hospital. I know some experts say to hold off for a few weeks (until breastfeeding is going really smoothly), but in our case introducing it earlier was the right thing to do. It saved my nipples and didn't cause any problems with nipple confusion – I nursed her exclusively for nine months." – Marcie
"Bring cheap throwaway flip-flops to wear into the bathroom and shower. The hospital floors were icky." – kaym12
"I have found that a box of chocolates or yummy treats for the nurses, left at the nurse's station as you check in, is a nice gesture. I know that sounds silly, but being a maternity nurse is a huge commitment with each new mom that comes in, and it's kind of nice to recognize that with a little something, since you'll be seeing a lot of each other over the next couple of days." – Marci
"My husband went home to get our laptop so he could e-mail friends and family members. I'm not sure all hospitals have wireless Internet, but ours did." – Anonymous
"I got really bored, since the baby sleeps most of the time and my husband would go home to rest or take care of our other kids, so think about getting a puzzle book or a magazine or book to read, something to keep you occupied until they release you." – groovitha
"This is our fourth baby, and I can't say I was ever bored enough to need a book to read! If you get 15 minutes of no one visiting....and the baby sleeping....please, close your eyes and take a quick nap!" – Anonymous
"I brought everything on our list with our first child, and my husband had to haul it around. I didn't use half of it. A change of comfy clothes for you, your hubby, and the baby was all we really needed. Toiletries were good to have – like my toothbrush, of course. But everything else seemed to just clutter up our small room. Even the diaper bag I packed never even got opened! If you feel like you need all the extras, I would leave it in the car, just in case." – Jannell21
