Th

eUl t
i
mat
eMate
rni
t
y
Hosp
it
alBagCh
ec
kl
is
t
Areyoualls ort
etf gday
hebi ?Yourbabymi r
ghtarv
ieearert
i
l hanex ed,s
pect oiswor
’
t t i
hhav ourbaby
ngy
hos t
pialbagor z
gani k
edandpacedduringmont ghtofy
hei egnancy−j
ourpr us nc
ti e.
as

Thisc k
hecls
itwilhel
l pyouprepareeveryt ngy
hi ou’lneedf
l our
ory s fandy
el ournewbaby.Plust e’
her sa
minic
-hecl
ks
itf r
orbithparner
t saswell.Perhapspac kyourbagstogethersoy ouc e-
andoubl checkthaty l
ou’l
eachhaveeveryt ngy
hi oumightneed.Onc eallthebagsar epacked,keept ,ei
hem handy heri
t nthec aror
nearthedoor,soyou'lber
l eadytogoatamoment snot
' ice.

Hospi
talBagf
orMom:LaborandDel
iver
y

Hospi
talpaperwor k,ID,andinsur
ancec ar
d.
Havecopiesofy ourmedi calr
ecor
dshandy ,s
othatyourdoctorsc
aneas i
l
yrevi
ewyour
medic
alhist
ory.Hos pital
srequi
reyourI
D,anymedi calcar
ds,andins
urancedoc
umentsup
f
ront
,somak es urey ouhav eacopyofthesereadi
l
yav ail
abl
e.

Bir
thpl an(i
fyouhav eone).
Youmi ghthavediscussedyourbi
rthpl
anwit
hyourmedicalt
eam,buthav
ingafewcopi
es
pri
ntedandav ai
labl
ef ordoct
orsandnurs
esmeansthatever
yonecanref
ertoi
tinc
ase
l
ast-
minut eques
tionsaris
e.

Bat
hrobe.
Asoftbat
hrobeisus
efulf
orpac
ingar
ounddur
ingl
abor
,oraf
ter
war
d,i
fyous
pends
omet
ime
i
nthehospital
.

Socks
.
Yourf
eetmaygetc
olddur
ingl
abor
.

Sli
ppersandflip-
flops.
You’l
lwantsl
i
ppersthatarecomf
ort
abl
eandeasytosl
ipi
nandoutoft
owearasy
ouwal
k
aroundthehospi
talward.Pac
ksomefli
p-flopsf
orusi
ngint
heshower
.

Li
pbalm.
Yourl
ipscangetc
happeddur
ingl
abor
.Hav
ings
omel
i
pbal
m onhandwi
l
lhel
pkeepy
ourl
i
ps
hydr
atedandcomfor
tabl
e.

Bodyl
oti
onormas sageoil
.
Somemoms -
to-
befindal it
tl
emas s
agedur
ingl
aborr
elax
ing.I
fthi
scoul
dbey
ou,pops
ome
l
oti
onoroi
li
ny ourhospi
talbag.

Wat
ersprayandsponge.
Dur
ingl
abor,i
fyoustar
ttofeelhot
,itc
anhelptos
prays
omewat
erony
ourf
aceandnec
k,or
t
ospongesomec oolwateronyourfor
ehead.

Comfort
ablepil
low(s)
.
Yourhospi
talwi
llprov
ideyouwi
thpi
l
lows,butt
heymightnotbetheri
ghtki
ndf
ory
ou.I
fyou
haveafavori
tepil
lowathome,t
henyoumaywanttobri
ngitalongaswell
.

Rel
axingent
ert
ainment
.
Packsomethi
ngstohel
pyoupas
stheti
meli
keabook,magaz
ines
,at
abl
etwi
thmov
iesor
ser
iesdownl
oadedonit
,oramusi
cpl
ayer
.

Eyemaskandearplugs
.
Tohelpyougetr
estinabusyandbr
ightmat
erni
tyward,aneyemas kandear
plugscouldbe
j
ustwhatyouneedduri
ngthedownt
imesofl
abor,orf
ory ourwel
ldeser
vedshutey
eafterthe
del
iv
ery.

1
/3
Hospi
talBagf
orMom:Af
terDel
iver
y

Nightgowns
.
You’l
lneedsomet
hingc
omfort
abletos
leepindur
ingy
ourhospi
tals
tay,andasoft,l
oos
e
ni
ghtgownisagoodopti
on.Chooseafr
ont-
openi
ngstyl
eify
ouplantobreast
feed.

Heavy-dutymaternitypads.
Thehos pi
talwi
llpr
ov i
des omeoft hese,butyoumaywantt opackaf ewheavy-
duty
materni
typads,justi
nc ase.It
’snormaltobleedalotafterthebi
rth,andmater
nit
ypadsare
sof
terandmor eabs orbentthanstandardpads.I
nit
ial
lyy oumayneedt ochangepadsever
y
onetotwohour s,butwi t
hinaf ewdays,theflowwi l
lstarttodec
rease.

Underwear
.
Packsever
alpai
rsofc
omf
ort
abl
eunder
weart
hatar
elar
geenought
owearov
erheavy
-dut
y
mater
nit
ypads.

Br
as.
Bepr
epar
edwi
thaf
ewnur
singbr
asorot
herc
omf
ort
abl
e,wel
l
-fit
ti
ngbr
as.

Toi
letr
ies.
Don’tf
or getti
ssues,hai
rbrus
h,comb,deodor
ant,t
oot
hbrush,t
oot
hpas
te,s
hampoo,
condit
ioner,hai
rdry
er,haircl
i
ps,andhai
rti
es.Packapl
asti
cbagtopopdir
tycl
othesi
n.

Cosmeti
csandski
nc arepr
oducts
.
I
fmakeupispar
tofyourusualr
outi
ne,t
hendon’ tf
orgety
ourcos
met
ics
.Pl
us,mak
esur
eyou
pac
ks omemoist
uri
zer,asy
ourski
nmayf eeldr
ierthanusual
.

Glas
sesandc ont
actlenses(i
fyouneedt hem)
.
I
tmays eem obvi
ous,butsometi
mesit’
sthesel
it
tl
ethi
ngst
hatcanescapeyourat
tent
ion
whenpac ki
ngyourhospit
albag.Don’
tfor
getcont
actl
enss
olut
ionandalenscaseify
ouuse
cont
actlenses
.

Phoneandc harger
.
Unlessyouoptforali
tt
ledigi
taldet
oxdur
ingt
hiss
pecialti
me,don’
tforgety
ourphoneand
charger
.Youcans t
ayintouchwithl
ovedones
,useitt
ot aket
hosefirstfewpict
ures
,andpos
t
yourspeci
alnewsons oci
almedia.

Clothes
.
Asidefr
om yournight
gown,youmightchoosetot
akesomec omf
ort
ablecl
othestowear
duringyourhospi
tals
tay
.Packanextraoutfitt
owearhome.Choosesomet
hingloose-
fitt
ing,
withadrawstri
ngorelas
ticwai
st.

Handout sandreferencebooks .
Youmi ghthavereceivedsomehandynot esfr
om yourprenat
alclas
sesorhaves ome
ref
erencebooksaboutnewbor ns.Thedoct
orsandnurseswillbeabletogiv
ey oulot
sof
personali
zedgui
danc e,butyoumi ghtfindt
heseresour
cesmor eusefulonc
ey ouactual
l
y
havey ournewborniny ourar
ms .

Snac ksanddr inks.

Laborc ans ometimesbev er
ylong,s oyouc ouldconsi
derpac ki
ngs omesnac ksanddrinks
.
Howev er
,speakt oyourmedicalteam aboutwhetherornoty ouwillbeall
owedt oeatordrink
anythingdur i
nglabor.Al
so,considerpacki
ngs omeofy ourfavori
tesnacksforaft
erlaboras
youmayf eelli
kes omecomfortfooddur i
ngy ourhospi
talst
ay.

2/
3
Hospi
talBagEssent
ial
sfort
heBi
rthPar
tner

Asabi
rt
hpar
tnery
oumi
ghtal
sowantt
opac
ksomet
hingsf
ory
ourt
imes
uppor
ti
ngmom i
nthehos
pit
al:

Snacksandwater.
Laborcanbethir
styworkevenf
orsupport
ivepar
tner
s.Consi
derpac
kings
omes
nac
ksand
water
,aswellaschangefort
hehos
pitalv
endingmachines
.

Phone,cameraand/orvi
deocamera,plusc hargersandbatt
eries.
Don’tf
orgett
opac kaphonetost
ayi ncontactwi t
hlovedones,andforsomeenter
tai
nment
duri
ngdowntimes.Thecamer
awillcomeinhandyt otakesomehappys naps.(
Makesuret
he
camera’
smemor ycardhaspl
ent
yoff reespac eoni t
.)

Clot
hes .
Laborisanunpr
edi
ctabl
epr
oces
s ,s
oachangeofc
lot
hesi
sal
way
sagoodi
dea,asy
ou
neverknowhowlongthest
aywi
llbe.

Toi
letr
ies.
Aft
eral ongl
abor
,youmightneedtofr
eshenupi
nthes
hower
.Mos
thos
pit
alsar
efinewi
th
thi
s,butyoucanconfir
mt hi
sbefor
ehand.

Spar
eglass
esorsparecont
actlenses.
I
tmightbealongday
,sohavingsparesoft
hes
ees
sent
ial
scoul
dcomei
nhandy
.

Smal
lpil
low.
Youmightappr
eci
ateget
ti
ngabi
tofr
estdur
ingdownt
imes
,aswel
l
.

Ent
ert
ainment
.
Somet
hingtodo:books
,at
abl
et,andamus
icpl
ayerar
eal
lgoodopt
ions
.

Hospi
talBagf
orYourBaby

Bodysuit
s .
Hospit
alpolic
iescanvar
yonwhatnewbornscanbedres
sedinsoconsul
twithyourdoct
ori
n
advanceaboutwhattopack.Youmayneedtoaddtowhatt
hehospit
alprov
idesinter
msof
access
oriesandlayer
s.Remember
,wit
hbodysui
tsi
t’
sagoodideat
oc hoosethosethat
fas
tenupatt hefr
ont.

Socksandbooti
es.
Newbornscangetcol
deasil
ysotak
es omesocksandbooti
esj
usti
ncas
e.Ev
endur
ing
ski
n-t
o-s
kincont
act
,yournewbor
nc anwearahatandsocks
.

Blanket
.
Thehos pi
talwil
lli
kel
yprovi
debl
ank
ets
,butabl
ank
etofyourowni
salwaysgoodtohav
eon
handtous eduringski
n-t
o-s
kinc
ont
act
.Itc
anal
sobeusedtokeepyourbabywar
mi nt
he
carseatont hewayhome.

Going-homeoutfit.
Considert
heweathercondi
ti
ons:abodysui
t,boot
ies
,andhatc
ouldbefinedur
ingt
he
warmermonths,butinwi
nter
,packmit
tensandajacketors
nowsui
t,aswel
l
.

Carseat
.
Thi
sobvious
lyi
sn’
tfort
hehos
pit
albag,butther
ightcarseatshoul
dbeinst
all
edi
nyourc
ar
ar
oundthesameti
mey oupackyourbabybagsoit’
sreadyforthehos
pit
al.

Wiht
t shos
hi t
pialbagc k
hecls
i,y
t l
ou’ lpr
lbewel epar ory
edf i
ourtmeinthehos t
pial hes
.Readupont ignsof
abor
l ,sothatyouk nowwhenitst
’ met
i abt
ogr hebagandbeony ourway.Goodl k
uc!

3/
3