The Hospital Bag

 Whether you plan to have a hospital or home birth, you need to have a bag packed for the hospital.  For a home birth, you need to be ready for the possibility of a quick transfer.  You can pick and choose from this list for what you think would be most important.  For a hospital birth, you are essentially moving into the hospital for a few days and want to have everything you need to make yourself feel safe and comfortable.  The hospital can accommodate anyone with the basics.  We have had had many patients come in  straight from their doctor's office with an unplanned labor and we have all necessary supplies.  The hospital bag is more for comfort and familiarity.  In order to birth, we need to feel safe.  Having familiar sights, smells, and textures can make a big difference. 

• Chapstick- Your lips get super dry with all of the breathing.  Hospitals are also drier due to the climate controlled air. 
• Music- make your playlist and you can even bring a little speaker for your room
• Chargers- phones, cameras, whatever.
• Fairy lights- obviously totally optional but these can give a very homey feeling to a hospital room.  You can turn the lights off and have these pretty dim lights.  Amazon has battery pack lights for very cheap. 
• Essential oils- lavender is so calming and is great at covering up the sterile smell of the hospital.  Sage oil is also great for augmenting labor- add a few drops to some massage oil and give your belly a rub in early labor.
• Massage oil- this can really be any carrier but coconut oil work really well. Your partner, doula, or anyone in your labor team can rub your hands, feet, back or belly during early labor (people aren't usually as in to being touched later in labor). 
• Special hydrating drinks or snacks for labor (if your hospital allows this kind of thing)- I am low-sugar high fat person and the hospital generally only has high sugar no fat snacks so I like to bring my own like coconut water and RX bars. 
• Hair ties
• Any makeup or cosmetics you need to feel human- I am not a makeup girl but if that is part of your routine and makes you feel good, bring it! This is part of self care and is so necessary after baby gets here. 
• Your normal travel toiletry bag- shampoo and conditioner, toothbrush and paste, soap, lotion, face wash and lotion, glasses or contacts and solution, brush, all the normal overnight stuff. 
• Your allergy meds, inhaler, thyroid medication, anti-depressant, normal meds you take daily.  Talk to the nurse about them when you get there, they may have to give them to pharmacy to check out but most drugs you take at home, you want to keep taking in the hospital.
• Soft, stretchy cozy clothes for after delivery and to ride home.  Don't worry about fashion, this is about comfort.  These clothes will get bloody, milky, dirty during postpartum.  Pack enough for three days of postpartum just in case. 
• Baby's car seat- test it out and make sure you know how to click it into the car before you go.
• Baby's first outfit- I opt for comfort over fashion here but that might as well be my life motto.  Whatever adorable thing you have found.  I LOVE the super soft baby sack by Lou Lou.  It is expensive and there are a million versions of it.  This little kit comes with the hat, the sleep sack (perfect for changing diapers without snaps or getting legs in and out of anything), mittens (they try to scratch their faces off), and the super soft blanket. The baby doesn't need clothes the rest of the time they are in the hospital, just for the ride home. The hospital will have everything baby needs until then.
  
  
  
• Any special butt creams, diapers, wipes you want for baby.  The hospital supplies all of these things but it is just whatever brand they contract with so if you have a preference, bring them. If not, take full advantage of all of the free stuff. 
• A Doula- see my reasoning here. 
• A gift basket- this is totally optional but the nurses, techs, doctors and anesthesia :) love it when patients bring a basket with treats for their care team.  Protein bars, candies, cookies, chip bags- any treats you think would be nice to share. 

Maybe not necessary:

• Clothes for labor- many women think they need a gown to labor in.  These get destroyed and are often in the way when mom is trying to move around.  They give you a gown in the hospital and you want to be naked underneath- undergarments are in the way for delivery, epidural, nursing, etc. 
• A pillow or blanket from home- also gets destroyed and sometimes lost. If you need it to feel safe bring it, just know it might not be the same when it comes home.
• Deck of cards, games, things to entertain the others in the room. You are not hosting anyone- you don't need to keep people entertained. When people bring these things for themselves, they almost never use them.  Download a few good shows if you feel like you will get bored. 
• People other than your partner or doula. An audience puts you on the spot and you are not in labor mode.  To each their own, some people feel much safer and more comfortable with their mom in the room. Most don't.
• Nursing bras- I use tank tops when I eventually start wearing anything.  For the first few days postpartum I just drip into a chux pad (plenty at the hospital) and don't put any pressure at all on my breasts until well after the milk comes in.  I am trying to avoid mastitis with this.  Read about that here. 
  
• The Birth Plan...If you have very strong feelings about anything from circumcision, shots, epidurals, breaking your water, a gentle cesarean request, etc.  You should really have made sure with your doctor that these are things they will honor and given the information to them well in advance.  Then remind everyone when you get there and bring a birth plan with all of that info if that is the case. The birth plan with items that are out of the ordinary for the hospital and staff usually isn't received well unless there was advance warning. A doula is helpful if you know you are going to have this fight in the hospital and she would have this information well in advance as well. The best option is to look for a provider who aligns with your beliefs so you don't have to have a document that outlines all of these preferences. Also, you are given informed consent (ideally) before any procedure so feel free to ask lots of questions or just not give consent if it something you are uncomfortable with such as artificial rupture of membranes or the Hep B vaccine.

Free things from the hospital to take full advantage of:

• The mesh panties- get as many as you can, they are fantastic for afterwards.  If you need more, these are the BEST. 
• The grippy socks- they keep you from slipping!
• The blue suction bulb for baby- it is great for people who refuse to use this.  The Nose Frida is far superior for suction, though.  
• Diapers, wipes, butt paste- mentioned earlier
• Formula samples. Even when we KNOW 100% that we will breastfeed exclusively forever, things happen and it is good to have those little premade formulas just in case. 
• THE LACTATION CONSULTANT- use her, even if you are a pro.  She can help even the best latch and always has techniques and tricks you haven't considered. 

Have your bag packed at 36 weeks and just leave it in a closet, you don't need a constant reminder that you haven't yet gone into labor but you want it ready to go when the time comes.  Also share with your partner where it is so if you do need to go to the hospital unexpectedly from another location, they can grab it for you.