Packing your hospital bag ready for labour and your after birth hospital stay is quite a daunting experience, especially for your first! I remember going through numerous checklists from the Mater Hospital, to baby blogs, to Instagram influencers making sure I had everything I though I needed. But truth be told, there are really only a few things that are essential and a couple of these items were last minute packs! Below is a list 10 essential items for your hospital bag.
Granny underwear - you will want granny underwear that you can pull up over your stomach whether you have a c-section or a natural birth, you will feel way more secure having something that goes over your stomach to keep everything together!
Maternity pads - you will be going through these if you have a natural birth. I was supplied a few at the beginning in the private hospital system, but ended up going through almost two whole packets in a few days because you need to change them regularly. If ice packs are not provided by your hospital, I would suggest freezing a few pads to help soothe "down there" after your birth. I was provided with access to a freezer full of ice packs to put in the underwear.
Button up shirts - you are going to have so many midwives coming and going in your room to assist in breast feeding and having button up shirts so you don't have everything hanging out all the time is useful and more convenient, especially going to classes! But in the end, everyone that walks into your room is going to expect to be seeing some part of you since you will be feeding every few hours.
Phone charger - so many people are going to want to hear from you and you will need your charger! I also used my phone for alarms to wake up to feed and make sure that I was doing everything I needed to such as physio and going to the bathroom every 3 hours.
Slippers - so you aren't walking around on hospital floor with no shoes, particularly in the middle of the night.
Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste and moisturizer)
Snacks and pain killers for your partner! You don't know if it will be a long or short labour, so to make sure your partner has snacks, Gatorade and pain killers is key! They need to be on their A-game as well.
Maternity Leggings - These will be comfy and warm and you will be able to pull them over your belly which will be a lot more comfortable and give you the feeling of everything "staying together".
Warm onsies for your little one - you will need a couple of outfits (I would say 5) that will be warm for your little one. Bring a couple of sizes just in case because you never know whether they will exceed the 0000! Will also need some singlets, the little ones do get cold!
Deodorant and moisturizer - this will make you feel more like yourself after showering.
This list may not be exhaustive, but I believe these to be the essentials or at least the essentials that I used in hospital! It all depends on what your hospital provides as well, I had access to free meals, a freezer for padcicles and a breast pump which helped with breastfeeding.
Our hospital also provided everything in the birthing suite such as a bath, shower and birthing ball so I didn't need to bring anything like that.
Hope this helps!
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