Packing your hospital bag is likely a topic you never once thought before pregnancy and then randomly you woke up (or more likely, couldn’t sleep one night with pregnancy-related insomnia) and you started obsessing over it. If you’re anything like me, you’ve scoured TikToks and blogs and you still didn’t feel prepared.
So hopefully this resource will be helpful! Having written this after having our son, I’m including several things I *wish* I had brought and also excluding items that I didn’t touch.
For you/your partner
- Underrated on several people’s lists — FOOD! I’ve never heard someone say something good about hospital food and I’m certainly not going to be the one to start. The food was pretty much not edible and to make matters worse, I forgot to tell them ahead of time that I’m a vegetarian. My husband and I had our parents bring us food but we should have packed snacks and a few Tupperware containers of food.
- Blanket(s) and pillow(s) – we brought a blanket for my husband but we didn’t think to bring one for me. Make the few minutes of sleep you get a little more bearable! Also, you might feel crazy lugging so much into the hospital but you can leave most of it in the car and get your partner to grab it when needed.
- Compression socks (I got these). Honestly, compression socks are another highly underrated item for pregnancy, the hospital, and postpartum. I had a c-section and was given a LOT of fluids at the hospital. When I got home, I could barely see my ankles. I loved the Quince socks I got but having grippies on the bottom would have been an added bonus for the slippery hospital floors.
- If you have a planned c-section or are a likely candidate, I highly recommend bringing along this belly binder for recovery.
- Your birth plan – an ongoing joke my husband and I told people while pregnant was, “we’re writing a birth plan so we can throw it away,” and man oh man were we right. Our plan was for an unmedicated waterbirth and we landed on a c-section. I recommend writing a birthplan for vaginal delivery AND a separate one for c-section. Make sure your partner knows it front to back since they will hopefully be your biggest advocate. Then, get ready to roll with the punches.
- Makeup Remover Wipes – No, I am not the girl to head to the hospital with a full face of makeup. That being said, makeup remover wipes were great for feeling like I showered when I most definitely did not. On that same topic, I am glad I had the chance to shower and blow dry my hair (long haired girlies know this is not an every shower occasion) before going to the hospital because it was realistically 3-4 days until I showered again.
- Manual breast pump — I was under the fantasy that breastfeeding would be easy and so I didn’t pack anything related to breastfeeding. Looking back, I wish I had packed nipple shields, a manual pump, and nipple butter (yep, you read that right). I also wish I had seen a lactation specialist before birth but that is an entirely different story. If you’re smart, you also started collecting colostrum late in the third trimester and you’re able to bring some to the hospital.
- Wireless speaker — we envisioned using this for a birth playlist and instead used it mostly for white noise at night. We accidentally tricked several nurses into thinking it was storming outside due to our rain sounds.
Most everything else is provided by the hospital (disposable underwear, peri-bottle, pads, etc.). Things that absolutely didn’t matter despite TikTok trying to tell me otherwise: my going home outfit, my skincare routine, special pajamas, etc.
For baby
The hospital is also going to hook you up with diapers and swaddles, etc. My husband was so eager to offset our enormous hospital bill with “free stuff” that I think he brought home 10 baby blankets.
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