Your easy-to-use and tried-and-tested Hospital Bag Checklists
Packing your hospital bags during your third trimester can feel almost like a right of passage.
As a first-time mother, ticking off your lists in your third trimester can be exciting and overwhelming.
During my own pregnancy, I stumbled across so many hospital bag checklists that left me feeling overwhelmed with what I actually needed for labour, baby and me.
I took to my community of mothers and did a series of polls to discover what other mothers used and loved during their stay and what they packed but never needed.
We’ve compiled their advice to create this tried and tested Hospital Bag Checklist for your use.
While this post is based on honest and genuine recommendations (as well as our own personal experience), it may also contain affiliate links to brands we trust. View our full disclaimer
In this Article:
Tips for Packing your Hospital bags
- Use our Hospital Bag Checklist: Make sure you don’t forget to print your list and tick it off as you go.
- Organise your bags per person. We recommend you organise your hospital bags into categories: one bag for birth, one bag for baby, one bag for mum and one bag for your partner (or a small bag within your birth bag- we will explain further down).
- Pre-decide an announcement outfit for baby and place within an easy to grab bag within your baby bag. While you’re busy bonding with baby, you can easily guide someone into your bags to grab baby’s announcement outfit. We included a nappy, outfit, plaque and swaddle.
- Include your antenatal record and birth plan in your labour bag.
- Add a small labour tub to your car. Our ‘just in case tub’ came in handy. We included a few puppy training pads, a towel, a bucket, pillow and adult nappies for just incase my waters broke out and about OR before driving to hospital.
- Ensure your infant car seat is installed
When to pack your bags?
When you pack your hospital bag will depend on personal preference but may occur anywhere from 32-37 weeks for many women.
I remember that, with my firstborn, I was so eager to get my bags packed that I had to pack them and repack them 100 times before reaching the final weeks.
Do I need a Hospital Bag Organiser?
From experience, having everything organised within your bags will save you a lot of time and make it easier for whoever you’re instructing to find things for you.
I organised things with different cotton bags that I had from baby purchases and clearly labelled them.
I found this system to work for me but this was prior to knowing about Hospital Bag Organisers.
Some mums we know have used clear plastic ziplock bags to separate outfits in size/ and or one x outfit with one x nappy.
If you’re looking to purchase hospital bag organisers, here are some of the options I found online.
Hospital Bag Essentials:
What to pack in your Hospital Bag for Birth?
Please note: these recommendations came from the majority vaginal birth experiences.
If you are planning a C-Section, your checklist may look slightly different. We aim to publish our updated c-section list as soon as possible.
- Antenatal Record/ hospital paperwork
- Birth plan/ preference list
- Depends nappies -in case your water breaks
- Spare high-waisted black undies
- Swimmers, if using a birthing pool
- Water Bottle with Straw
- Labour Aid to stay hydrated
- Comfortable sports bra / Bralette
- Tens machine- You can hire these from 37-42 weeks or purchase your own.
- Heat pack
- Lip Balm
- Hair ties
- Birth Affirmations
- Clary Sage Roller
- Labour snacks for self and support person
- Headphones, speaker and playlist / mobile phone
- Little sieve and mirror if planning on birthing in water
- For Support Person (in own bag): Include board shorts/ swimsuit, spare clothes, thongs, and inclosed shoes in case of surgery/c-section.
Everything you need in your Hospital Bag for Mum
- Toiletries (as per preference)
- Toms Maternity Pads or Bare Mum’s postpartum pads
- Depends disposable undies/nappies
- Peri Bottle
- Peri Spray/ Peri Foam
- Long cord phone charger
- Black high waisted undies
- Slippers and dressing gown
- Dark button up pjs
- Maternity stretchy singlets
- Comfortable feeding-friendly shirts
- Nursing bras
- Prenatal Vitamins
- Dark comfortable pants
- Socks
- Thongs/flip flops for the shower
- Going home outfit
- Coffee cup and water bottle
- Snacks
- Ice Packs (hospital will also provide if you wish)
- Reusable Breast Pads
- Easy to slip on shoes
Other optional items include a pillow, ear plugs, face mask, nipple creams, notebook/pen, a gift for toddlers or older children from the baby, and expressed colostrum to store in the freezer.
Must-Have in your Hospital Bag for Baby
- Welcome to the World Plaque
- Announcement Outfit
- 10 Newborn Nappies
- Pk baby wipes (we use water wipes)
- Going Home Outfit
- 4-5 NB Onsies /Zippy
- 1-2 Prem Onsie/ Zippy
- 4 under layer singlet suits
- 2 Swaddles
- 1 Blanket
- 2-3 Burp Clothes/ Terry Toweling
- 1 Beanie
- Socks/Booties
- Bottles (if planning on bottle feeding)
Printable Hospital Bag Checklists
Final Thoughts on Preparing Your Bags for Birth
Births look different from woman to woman. Some women give birth at home, others in birthing suites with short stays after, while some have stayed in the hospital anywhere from 1-10 days.
Updated article May 2024:
While this article is based on a 3-day stay, I recently had my second baby, and I was at the hospital for only 6-8 hours in total and used very little.
Here’s what I needed for the short stay:
– Tens machine, water bottle with straw, disposable underwear when waters broke, ear pods with music and hydration powder (labour)
– Minimal toiletries for an after-birth shower, flip flops/thongs for a shower, maternity pads and disposable underwear, high-waisted comfortable black underwear, labour snacks for a post-birth pick-me-up, change of comfortable clothes, slippers + shoes I came in (mum)
– 1 baby blanket, 1 baby swaddle, 1 outfit to wear home, beanie, 1-2 nappies (baby)
– Peri Ice (hospital) coffee (hospital cafe)
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Meg Flint
It’s crazy how much you learn from packing your bags for your first to packing your bags for your second birth. I love that you included different sizes clothes for the baby. I didn’t do that with my first and she was swimming in what we brought for her 😂