The Waldessori Mom

Hospital bag checklist: labor essentials

Below are some suggestions for things to bring with you to the hospital regardless of whether you’re having a c-section or a vaginal birth. Click on the underlined item to take you to the product recommendation on Amazon (I earn a small commission for the items purchased)!

• Insurance card and ID
• Birth plan
  • When you’re in the middle of having contractions, you’re bound to not remember every little detail of how you want your birth to go. Having a birth plan, which details your preferences for how you would like to labor as well as specifications for care for your baby, will be really helpful for you, your partner, and your care provider.
• Nipple cream
  • You only need to use this on your nipples and not your areolas! This may seem like common sense but I point it out because this is what I did. I was so nervous about getting pain that I slathered that stuff everywhere and I looked a bit ridiculous, but if you don’t know, you don’t know!
  • The hospital will most likely have lanolin cream or some other type of nipple cream but I brought one that I really like personally.
• Nursing pads
  • Although you’ll just have colostrum right after birth, it’s helpful to have nursing pads because you’ll want to use nipple cream when you’re done with a nursing session to help with any irritation. The nursing pads will stop the cream from getting all over your bra. This is especially important if you’re using cream with lanolin because that stuff stains really badly like oil!
• Nursing bras
  • Please don’t be like me and forget this… I don’t usually wear bras and for my first birth experience, I didn’t bring any nursing bras with me. I used a ton of lanolin nipple cream and the night gowns that I was wearing at the hospital had HUGE oil stains on my boobs and it looked like I was perpetually leaking milk my whole hospital stay. Just a tiiiiny bit embarrassing!
• Comfortable nightgowns
  • Choose ones that have buttons down the front for easy access for breastfeeding and for any exams the doctors need to do.
• Going home outfit
  • Make it something loose and comfortable! Especially if you need a c-section, you don’t want something that presses tightly under the stomach. It was summer for me so I wore these which I also like because they’re good for pregnancy and postpartum.
• Going home outfit for baby
  • You can get something cute or just bring a regular onesie. Just make sure that you bring both size newborn and 0-3 months since you don’t know how big your baby is going to be.

• Nursing pillow
  • You could stack pillows on top of one another to breastfeed your baby, but I found it way more comfortable to do a combination of my Boppy and the pillows.
• White noise machine
  • I brought a small portable one to put to block out all the noises of the hospital (machines beeping, nurses talking, etc) and simulate the sound of when the baby was still in utero.
• Hand lotion and lip balm
  • Hospitals are so dry! I found myself applying these constantly.
• Reusable water bottle
  • They have cups with straws at the hospital, but I found that they never held enough water for me, so having my big reusable one saved anyone from making a ton of trips to get more water.
• Power strip
  • I didn’t bring one with me but the outlets were in weird spots and I wasn’t able to have my things charged all of the time so this would have been helpful to have.
• Portable fan
  • I initially thought I wouldn’t use this since I had a planned c-section and saw it more as a labor tool but I used it a ton in my recovery room! With all of my hormones all over the place, I felt super hot when no one else was so I had the AC cold but I also had this attached to my bed rail to keep me cool.
• Postpartum underwear
  • Initially, I thought that buying this was a waste of money since the hospital has postpartum underwear already, but let me tell you, these things are comfy! For my first birth I used the hospital’s underwear and then I bought either adult diapers or some type of disposable period underwear and they weren’t the right size and were uncomfortable. But these are stretchy and are one size fits all. I found them so much more comfortable than the hospital ones.
• Bidet
  • The hospital gives you one too but it isn’t nearly as good as this one! This one works against gravity and does a much better job. I have a 2 story house so I got one for the first floor and one for the second floor.
• Velcro swaddles
  • I could never for the life of me swaddle a baby in a regular blanket. These are velcro and easy to put on. I’ve tried other brands but I found the Halo to be the easiest and both of my babies liked them.

• 2 pillows
  • One for you and one for your partner! The hospital’s are very thin.
• 1-2 comfy blankets
  • I didn’t need an extra blanket because I was comfortable with what the hospital gave me, but I did bring one for my husband to use to sleep on the couch bed.
• Grippy socks
  • The hospital gives you socks but they aren’t very comfortable and they were really big on me. I liked having my own fluffy grippy socks. Definitely make sure that they have grips on the bottom because if not, they aren’t safe for you to be walking around since you can slip.
• Comfy robe
  • I didn’t bring a robe but I did bring one of my favorite comfy sweaters. This was nice to have to put on over my nightgown when I wanted to go grab a snack or walk around the halls to stretch my legs.
• Hair tie
  • Definitely necessary for during labor and after when those hormones are going crazy!
• Toiletries
  • I wouldn’t recommend bring your 10 step Korean skin care routine. I barely had the energy or ability to do my face routine the first day or 2. After I was able to get out of bed and finally shower, I would brush my teeth, use my face wash, and put lotion. Even that in itself was a feat!
• Flip flops
  • I liked to wear these in the shower.

Hospital bag items you can skip

The hospital will provide you with essentials for the baby so you don’t have to pack them:

1. Diapers
2. Wipes
3. A ton of baby clothes
   • You’ll most likely keep your baby in just a diaper and a swaddle while at the hospital. This is ideal for getting plenty of skin to skin in those early days! You really just want to bring a going home outfit for your baby.
   • My second son needed to be under a warmer and they wanted to keep him extra warm so they even had little long sleeve shirts to put on him at the hospital.
4. Formula
   • The hospital has this if you need it.
5. Breast Pump
   • If needed, the hospital has hospital grade breast pumps for you to use. However, unless you’re going to be exclusively pumping or your baby is in the NICU, you won’t want to breast pump until your baby is 3-4 weeks old to avoid stimulating an oversupply.

Overall, bring what you think you’ll need. For the labor, it’s better to have it when you need it than not have it at all, and for recovery you can always go back home and get it if you forgot anything. Make sure to have your bag packed a month in advance of your due date just in case you go into labor early. See it as more of a “due month” rather than a “due date.”