Packing your bags for the hospital is a major milestone on your journey to the delivery room. Deciding what to bring can be a little overwhelming if you’ve never had a baby before. Since you’ll likely be spending a couple days there, it will be comforting to have some of your own personal items there with you to make it feel a little more like home.
First of all, it’s a good idea to have your hospital bag packed about 4 weeks before you are scheduled to deliver. You could go into labor early or your due date might be a little off, so you want to make sure you are prepared. Leave the bag right by the door or in the car you plan to take to the hospital so you don’t accidentally leave it at home. Make sure you attach a tag to make sure it does not get lost at the hospital.
Hospitals will usually tell you that they are not responsible for lost or stolen items you might have brought with you; so don’t plan on packing anything too valuable. If you are planning on bringing a camera or video recorder, have your spouse or a friend be in charge of keeping track of it. You may be moved from room to room, and you’ll be too busy to be worrying about whether your camera made it to the mother and baby room after delivery.
Some essentials you will want to bring:
- Toothpaste and toothbrush. Nothing feels better than brushing your teeth the morning after delivery. The same goes for showering, so make sure you bring shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and anything else you plan on using in the shower.
- Comfortable, loose pants. 2 pair. You will be very sick of wearing the hospital gown after a day or so. Usually by the second night you will be able to wear your own clothes. Before then, they might be uncomfortable or too much of a hassle to mess with when you’re using the bathroom. Bring two pairs of comfortable pants because it’s likely you may soil the first pair.
- Comfortable, nursing accessible shirts. Bring something that is both comfortable and stylish enough that you won’t be mortified when you look back through pictures of yourself with your newborn. Make sure you will be able to nurse while wearing it.
- Lip Balm. Your lips will get really dry, especially with all the panting you’ll be doing.
- Warm socks. Slippers are a hassle and hospital floors are cold.
- Camera. Make sure your husband knows what shots you want. The nurses were really good about asking my husband questions like, “do you want to get a picture of your son on the scale?” to make sure we got all the pictures we wanted.
- Outfit for baby. I brought two: one for his hospital photo and a warmer one to bring him home in.
Do not worry about bringing underwear because you will appreciate the mesh panties the hospital provides. You don’t have to worry about washing them afterward.
Some other items you might want to bring, but do not necessarily need are:
- CDs to play in the delivery room.
- Your makeup. I didn’t end up wearing any until the day I left, but it was nice to freshen up before checking out.
- Birthing Ball
- Journal
- A robe. (Just don’t bring want you’re not willing to toss if it gets blood stains.)
- A bath towel – the hospital variety can be fairly small.
- Pillows and a blanket. I brought these to make my hospital bed at least smell like my bed at home. It made it a lot easier to fall asleep.
- Snacks for your hubby!
- A ponytail holder if you have long hair you want to tie back.
- A birth plan, if you have one.
If you’ve already had children, what are some things that you brought with you to the hospital that you couldn’t live without? Did you bring anything that you didn’t end up using?