What I Actually Used from my Hospital Bag

We recently had our first baby, and I watched dozens of YouTube videos about what to pack in my hospital bag before her arrival. As a first-time parent, we had no idea what to expect from the entire experience or what we’d truly need once we were in the thick of things.

Now that we’ve lived through it, I wanted to share the things we used in the hospital that we were very glad we packed. Keep in mind that hospitals, birth experiences, and parent choices are different for everyone, so feel free to use this list as a jumping off point and modify it for your own wants and needs. Hope it helps!

I used my favorite duffle from Walker Family Goods as my hospital bag. It had plenty of space for everything I needed for both me and our baby with room to spare.

For Mom

Night Gown

From the time we were admitted to triage to the time I was wheeled into our post-partum room I wore the hospital issued gown. After my shower, putting on an extra comfortable nightgown was heavenly and made it easy for all of the necessary checks performed by nurses over the next few days.

Nurses perform a lot of fundal massages to ensure your uterus is contracting and your bleeding is normal—this is true for those who have a vagial delivery or c-section. Not having to wriggle down pants each time made these checks much easier. A dark color is recommended, because there’s a lot of bleeding that happens afterward — better safe than sorry.

Small Fan

I ended up having an unplanned c-section, but I did push for about 2.5 hours before that call was made. I’m here to tell you pushing is hard work! We received a 3 speed stroller fan with flexible legs from our registry, and I decided to throw it in my bag just in case. I’m glad I did! It was perfect for attaching to the side of the hospital bed—just don’t forget to charge it before you pack it.

Compression Socks

After birth, you will likely be pretty swollen. There are a lot of fluids pumping through you for quite some time! I highly recommend compression socks to keep the swelling in your legs at bay and a little more comfortable. Since you’ll want socks or slippers to walk around your hospital room anyway, this is a dual purpose and extremely functional item to have in your bag.

Depends Postpartum Underwear

This is totally a personal preference, but I found Depends underwear to be so much more comfortable than the mesh underwear and large pad situation provided by the hospital. If you, too, end up having a c-section, these are high waisted and allow your healing incision to breathe in addition to being more comfortable than the alternative. I wore these for a week or two once I got home, too, so I truly can’t recommend them enough. We stayed 3 nights in the hospital, and I used 8 or so of these if that helps you gauge how many to pack.

For Mom & Dad

Extra Long Phone Cord

You’ll likely be on your phone for long stretches of time. It’s a good distraction during early labor, and you will receive approximately 1 million messages afterward with congratulations and picture requests. The outlets in our room were far from the hospital bed, so the extra long cord was great! Bryan (my husband) also used this a lot, since he was the primary communicator with our friends and family while I was in labor.

Water bottle

Hospitals have different policies when it comes to things you can and cannot consume during labor and delivery. My hospital allowed me to drink water and juice and eat things like popsicles. If your hospital has a similar policy, I highly recommend bringing a water bottle. While we were given one in our room, it was nice to have two on rotation since I was drinking so much. Bryan was also glad he brought a big water bottle.

Pillows for Both of You and Blankets for Dad

The hospital pillows are perfectly fine throughout labor and delivery, but having your own extra comfy pillow while you’re in postpartum is very nice. At our hospital tour they recommended putting a colored or patterned pillow case on it so you don’t forget it or get it mixed up with hospital pillows. It’s not a bad idea, but I’m here to tell you there is no risk you’ll mix up pillows unless you sleep on a paper thin, lumpy, polyfill pillow by choice.

Your significant other will want a comfortable pillow and some heavier blankets than those provided by the hospital. It gets really cold at night, so Bryan slept with all the hospital linens, two thick blankets from home, and a hoodie.

Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash & Other Toiletries

Our hospital didn’t provide shampoo, conditioner, or body wash, so I highly recommend bringing some just in case yours doesn’t either. Taking a shower once you’re able is luxurious, despite the fact that you’re in a hospital. (Shower shoes are also recommended!) You’ll probably enjoy a good teeth brushing, too, so don’t forget your toothbrush and toothpaste.

I packed a makeup bag and did end up using it for the last two days of our stay. After a little while you start to get stir crazy in your room, and the ritual of something familiar like putting on makeup was welcomed!

For Baby

Portable Sound Machine

Once your baby arrives and you and your family are tucked away in your postpartum room, you’re going to be interrupted a million times—”let’s check your bleeding,” “fill out these birth certificate forms,” “hi, I’m your child’s pediatrician,” “here’s your breakfast!” — It’s truly insane. Having a portable sound machine was really nice to keep baby sound asleep through it all. We have the Hatch Rest Go and love it (it’s the first one linked below!), but there are several highly rated ones included for you. (Pssst — a lot of newer portable sound machines come with a “shhhh” noise, so you probably don’t need a separate Baby Shhher.)

Swaddle

If your’e a pro at swaddling with normal blankets, you can mark this one off your list. The hospital will provide you with plenty of blankets for your baby! But if you’re like us and had never swaddled a kid in your life, I definitely recommend bringing a swaddle or two that you plan to use at home so you can practice while you have nurses to help. Brooks (our daughter) really likes the Halo and Ollie swaddles. The Halo is much warmer than the Ollie, so we opted for that one while in the chilly hospital. We primarily use the Ollie now that we’re home.

Pacifiers (and holder)

Babies have preferences just like you and me. We brought 2-3 different pacifiers for her to try, and we’re very glad we did since the one provided by the hospital was a little too heavy for her. (In case you were curious, Brooks likes the Bibs pacis because they’re super lightweight, and we love them because it comes with a glow in the dark ring that’s easy to find when it falls out of her mouth at night.) We packed our different paci options in a silicone pacifier holder that now lives in her diaper bag. It’s dishwasher safe and silicone so it won’t harbor a lot of bacteria.

Sleeper with Mittens (or separate mittens or a nail file)

Babies are born with little talons for fingernails and can easily scratch their faces. Having a sleeper with fold over mittens, a separate pair of mittens, or a baby nail file is helpful. We ended up only using one outfit for our daughter to go home in. One night we put her in a sleeper and a swaddle, and she was running a little hot. She stayed in her diaper and a swaddle for most of our hospital stay, but if you’re having a winter baby you may want 2-3 depending on the length of your stay. Sleepers with magnets are our favorite for ease, but those with 2-way zippers are also a good choice!