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Hospital bag checklist
Pack it by around 36 weeks. Two bags is easier than one enormous one — a labour bag you can grab, and a stay bag that can live in the car.
Your hospital or midwifery team may have their own list — check it, and follow theirs where it differs. If you are planning a home birth, ask your midwife what to have ready instead.
Paperwork & essentials
- Maternity notesOr how to access them on your phone — check before you need to
- Birth preferences, if you have written any
- Phone and a long charging cable
- Snacks and drinksIsotonic drinks and things you can eat one-handed
- Change and a card for parking and vending machines
For labour
- Something loose to labour in that you do not mind ruining
- Flip-flops or old slippers for the shower
- Hair band, lip balm, hand fan
- A pillow from homeHospital pillows are famously thin. Use a coloured pillowcase so it comes home
- Music or headphones
- TENS machine, if you are using one
For you afterwards
- Maternity padsMore than you think. Two packs
- Disposable or old dark underwearSeveral pairs
- Nursing bras and breast pads
- A loose going-home outfit, still bump-sized
- Two nighties or pyjamas that open at the frontFor skin-to-skin and feeding
- Toiletries, towel, and a hairbrush
- Any regular medication
For the baby
- NappiesA pack of newborn size
- Cotton wool or water wipes
- Vests and sleepsuitsTwo or three each — more if you can
- A hat, scent-free
- Muslins
- A blanket and a coming-home outfitWeather-appropriate
- Car seatFitted and practised in advance — you cannot leave without it
For your birth partner
- Their own snacks and drink — genuinely, this gets forgotten
- Change of clothes and a toothbrush
- Phone charger
- Pillow and something to sleep on if they can stay
The things people forget
- A towelNot always provided
- Glasses, and contact lens things
- A notebook and pen
- A list of who to ringYou will not remember numbers
- Something to read or watch for a long early labour