You’re nearing the end of your pregnancy, and you’ve secured most of what you’ll need — from diapers and burp cloths to swaddling blankets and onesies — for your newborn’s first weeks of life. Now, you’re ready to pack your indispensable “hospital bag.”
Whether you’re waiting for your water to break naturally or planning to have a scheduled c-section, you want to feel well-prepared for your baby’s birth when the time arrives.
Our obstetrics team at Capital Women’s Care is here to help. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of essential must-haves and comforting “support stuff” for labor and delivery in the hospital and your baby’s first trip home in the car.
Every hospital delivery kit should contain a secured file of the essential paperwork required for admittance to the maternity ward when the time comes. You’ll need:
Find out beforehand if the hospital will provide all the medications you need (including prescriptions) or if you should bring your preapproved medicines.
What are your birthing support must-haves? While this list is a bit different for every woman, a typical “labor kit” includes:
Many women also bring their own curated music playlists into the delivery room. Yours may be a streaming playlist on a smartphone that you can set up and leave plugged in or a few discs you bring along with a compact CD player.
You’ll also want to ask your partner or labor support person to pack their own small bag of essentials, including their phone and charger, personal care items (toiletries), one or two changes of clothing (including a front-button shirt for holding baby skin-on-skin), light snacks, and money for parking and/or vending machines.
If you’re not using your phone for these functions, you may also ask your labor support person to bring a camera (with a charged battery) and a stopwatch to time contractions.
The hospital provides maternity patients with a basic gown, slippers, essential toiletries, disposable underwear, and heavy-duty sanitary pads. Once your baby is born, you’ll enjoy having fresh clothes and a fuller set of personal care items. Many women bring:
Ensure your shirts open at the front for nursing and skin-to-skin contact. If you plan to nurse, you should also bring a toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, deodorant, lip balm, lotion, and nipple cream.
The early days of nursing can leave you feeling perpetually thirsty and hungry; consider bringing some of your favorite go-to snacks (with fiber if possible) and a large, insulated tumbler for water (the hospital may only have small plastic cups).
Your hospital bag should include a few items for your newborn, too. Must-haves include:
Before you’re released to take your baby home, you’ll need to show hospital staff that you have a rear-facing car seat properly installed. Ensure your baby’s going-home outfit has separated legs (i.e., not a gown that snaps closed) so you can put them in their car seat.
For obvious reasons, you should leave large amounts of cash and valuables like jewelry at home. You also don’t need to bring sanitary pads, newborn diapers, or a breast pump—the hospital will supply all these items.
Are you getting ready for labor and delivery? We can help. Visit your nearest Capital Women’s Care office in Frederick or Mount Airy, Maryland, today.
