Hospital bag checklist: getting ready for the last weeks

In the last weeks of pregnancy, your mind is partly on your baby and partly on your to-do list. The hospital bag is the most concrete item on that list: once it’s ready, it brings relief; left to the last minute, it causes a rush. In this post you’ll find, all in one place, when to pack your bag, what you can bring for yourself, your baby and your birth partner, and the other small things worth planning in the last weeks.

When should you pack your hospital bag?

Babies arrive in their own time, and fewer babies are born on their due date than people think. That’s why it’s a good idea to have your bag ready at least a few weeks before your due date. That way, if labour starts earlier than expected, all you need to do is head out the door.

Even if you’re planning a home birth, packing a small bag can be useful; if plans change, you may need to go to hospital. Once your bag is packed, keep it by the door or somewhere you’ll easily see it, and tell the person who’ll be with you where it is.

You don’t have to do it all at once. Adding one or two things each day over a few weeks may feel easier when you’re tired in the last weeks. To organise the overall schedule of your pregnancy, you can also take a look at our post on keeping pregnancy check-up dates in one calendar.

For you: documents, clothes and personal care

Your own list is the longest. You can shorten or expand the items below to suit your needs:

• Documents: ID, health insurance details, your maternity notes or pregnancy record, and your birth plan if you have one. Keep them all in one folder.
• Medicines you take: Bring the medicines you take regularly in their boxes; ask your doctor or midwife how to use them during and after the birth.
• Comfortable clothes: A loose outfit you can wear during labour, a dressing gown, slippers, a few sets of comfortable clothes and socks.
• For breastfeeding: Front-opening nightdresses, nursing bras and breast pads.
• For after the birth: High-absorbency maternity pads and a few pairs of underwear; disposable ones can be practical.
• Personal care: Toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, lip balm, hair ties, a towel and the care products you usually use.
• For comfort: A long charging cable or a power bank, an eye mask, a water bottle and snacks, and spare glasses or lenses if you wear them.

Hospital rooms and lockers are usually small. Instead of a huge suitcase, bringing what you need plus a few things you really want makes life easier.

Ticking things off a list as you pack saves you from wondering later, “Did I pack that?” If you put the list inside the bag or in its outer pocket, your birth partner can also easily find what’s where at the hospital. Write the things you’ll add at the last minute, like your phone charger or the medicines you take every day, separately at the top of the list.

For your baby: going home and the first days

Many hospitals provide the basics your baby needs during the hospital stay. So your baby’s list is mostly for going home:

1. Going-home outfit: A vest or bodysuit, a sleepsuit, a hat, socks and, if it’s cold, a warm snowsuit. Bringing one in newborn size and one in 0–3 months helps in case the size isn’t right.
2. Nappies and wipes or cotton wool: A small pack for the first days.
3. Muslins and a blanket: Useful both at the hospital and on the way home.
4. Car seat: If you’re going home by car, fit a suitable car seat for your baby in advance and practise how to strap it in.

Washing your baby’s clothes before packing and keeping them in a small bag helps you find what you’re looking for quickly at the hospital. You might also add an extra layer depending on the weather. Fitting the car seat a few weeks before the birth takes one more task off your list in the final days.

You don’t need lots of clothes for your baby; you’ll need fewer things in the first days than you think.

Your birth partner and getting ready for the last weeks

The person who’ll be with you during the birth may also spend hours at the hospital. A small bag is enough for them: a change of clothes, a toothbrush, phone and charger, snacks and drinks, any medicines they take, and some change for parking or vending machines.

Beyond the bag, these small plans can also make the last weeks easier:

• Find out in advance how you’ll get to the hospital or birth centre and roughly how long it will take.
• Save the phone numbers of your doctor, your midwife and the labour ward in your phone, and write them on paper too.
• If you have older children or pets at home, talk about who will look after them when labour starts.
• Ask your doctor or midwife when they’d like you to set off or call them.

Some situations, though, shouldn’t wait. If you think your waters have broken, if you have bleeding, if your baby is moving less, or if you feel constant, severe pain, call your doctor or midwife straight away. If it seems like an emergency, don’t hesitate to call your country’s emergency number. To collect the questions that come to mind in the last weeks, you can use the routine from our post on what to write in a weekly pregnancy journal.

It’s not possible to think of everything in advance, and if something is missing, it can usually be brought later. The point of the bag isn’t to be flawless, but to ease your mind a little in the last weeks.

How can you organise the last weeks in Oveluni?

Oveluni doesn’t offer a hospital bag checklist, but it helps you keep your appointments and notes from the last weeks in one place. In your Women's profile you can turn on the Women’s health section, record your check-ups with Add appointment in the Quick add menu and set reminders. Your appointments appear in the Calendar. You can use A note to write down things you don’t want to forget to pack, or questions for your doctor. If you don’t want details to show in notifications, you can turn on “Hide appointment and pregnancy details” in Notification Privacy. Oveluni is coming soon to the App Store.

Sources

1. NHS: Hospital bag checklist
2. ACOG: How to Tell When Labor Begins