First-time mothers often have a lot of planning and decision-making to do before the arrival of the newborn baby. One of those plans must include packing the maternity hospital bag to take to the delivery room. Here is a checklist of labor bag necessities and items that will be needed either during labor or immediately after the birth of the baby.
The Labor Bag Must Have Clothing and Personal Care Items for Mom
The packed hospital bag must include items to make the expectant mother feel comfortable during and after delivery. Here is a checklist of items for a new mom’s labor bag:
- Clothing – While most hospitals will provide a maternity gown for the delivery, some expectant moms may feel more comfortable wearing their own robe for extra coverage and comfort. Nursing gowns and bras will also be needed if the new mother plans of breastfeeding baby. In addition, a few maternity outfits and underwear to wear post-delivery must be a part of the hospital bag.
- Slippers and toiletries – Comfortable slippers in the right size are perfect for walking around the tiled hospital floors. Expectant mothers should also pack toothbrush, toothpaste and some makeup to feel and look fresh once baby has arrived.
- Birth plan and hospital paperwork – Moms-to-be should also pack a copy of their birth plan, if they have one, along with all the duly filled out hospital and insurance paperwork. Also, include the pregnancy medical file with all your reports. It will be a good idea to let your husband know where these are so that he can have them out in a jiffy when you reach the hospital.
List of Essentials for the Newborn Diaper Bag
Packing baby’s hospital bag correctly is important to ensure that baby has a comfortable stay in the hospital and on the ride home. While a newborn baby does seem to need a lot of stuff, there are a few essentials that must be a part of the diaper bag. While packing the hospital diaper bag for baby, parents can include the following:
- Newborn size clothing, at least one to two outfits. Do include a few warm vests and caps, if the weather is cold.
- Newborn diapers, cloth or disposable. Wet wipes or cotton balls to clean baby should also be included.
- Diaper cream, burp cloths and changing mats.
- Baby blankets, preferably newborn-size since the others can be too big for a tiny newborn.
- In addition, parents can use their discretion while including other newborn essentials such as pacifiers, baby formula and feeding bottles.
- While a car seat is a newborn necessity, it is not part of the hospital diaper bag, per se. However, parents must have it installed and ready-to-use for baby’s ride home.
Miscellaneous Items for the Maternity Hospital Bag
Expectant mothers can also include a few other items to make the hospital stay more personal and comfortable. These include items such as cellphone, laptop, books, magazines, a back massager or massage oil, music player, some snacks and a list of people to call once baby has arrived. Do remember to pack a fully charged camera and video camera to capture baby’s first moments.
A properly packed and ready-to-go baby hospital bag can help make a hospital stay comfortable. Use the last few weeks of pregnancy to put together a well-stocked maternity and newborn bag, and do use this list of items to bring to the hospital to make packing easy and stress-free.
this really help a lot for all moms. all things that yiou baby is in one pack.. handy and comfotable to carry