5 THINGS TO AVOID PACKING IN YOUR HOSPITAL BAG FOR AN EASY DELIVERY

“What should I pack in my hospital bag?” is one of the top questions in every Facebook group for expecting parents.  I think it may have something to do with nesting, or nerves, or trying to control the uncontrollable. I know that I worried relentlessly about it.  The thought of being unprepared at my very first task as a new mom was overwhelming.   In all of that worry, it’s easy to overpack.  By a lot.  Before you know it that overnight bag is now a giant suitcase, and it’s going to take at least 3 trips from the car to bring everything in.

Yes, the L&D nurses do notice when you pack like you are staying for a week long vacation.  But the good news is they are generally kind enough not to actually say anything.  Regardless, it’s no fun hauling that much stuff from the car to the delivery room, to the recovery room, and then back to the car. So let’s try to whittle down the things you actually need from the things that every pregnancy site and mom blog have suggested while trying to be unique and creative.

What You Don’t Need to Pack in Your Hospital Bag

1). Tons of entertainment!  I’ve seen recommendations to bring a book, hand held video game consoles, and all sorts of things.  The thing is, if you come in and can actually sit down and read a book, the L&D nurses will nicely tell you to come back later.  Same goes for video games.  And after the baby is born, you won’t be doing much reading anyway.  A laptop for watching a tv show in that late afternoon lull after visitors leave might be nice but that’s about it.  Mostly you’ll be focused on the baby.

2). Your own pillow.  This seems a bit much, if you can manage to go to a hotel without your own pillow, you’ll do just fine at the hospital for a night or two.

3).  Tons of Clothes for You and Baby!  People have recommended you need to bring 2 or 3 outfits for the baby. This is personal preference, but you certainly don’t need to, in fact I would usually argue against it, especially for baby. Most will find that having baby naked in a swaddling blanket makes it much easier to wake them enough to feed them.  It also makes it much easier to have extra to do skin to skin contact, which has all sorts of benefits.  The outfits may look cute, but they are not terribly practical during those first few newborn days.  Just save them for home.

4).  Diaper Supplies.  You also surprisingly will not really need to pack diapers, or diaper creme.  They have all that stuff at most every hospital.  If you are planning on nursing, you may not even need to worry about bringing a diaper bag, since you won’t be carting bottles and formula with you.

5).  Nursing Pillow.  This one is more of a maybe.  I definitely brought a nursing pillow (with probably the best name ever “My Brest Friend”.  No really that’s the name!) for my first kiddo.  I knew that I wanted to nurse, and the nursing pillow made me feel more prepared.  The truth is that it was bulky, a pain to lug around, and it didn’t feel clean since it got dragged from hospital room to hospital room.  So in the end I didn’t really want to put my new baby the nursing pillow until I had taken the cover home to be washed.  Instead I mostly opted for hospital pillows while I was there, and you know what, they worked just fine.  If you want it, toss it next to your hospital bag to bring (it likely won’t fit in there), and feel no shame.  Just recognize it’s a bit bulky, and chances are good it will end up on the hospital floor at some point.

Notice what’s else is not on my hospital bag list?  Your bulky DSLR camera.  Yeah, the photographer is telling you to leave the camera at home (I know, it’s basically sacrilege).  Phones are great nowadays, so go ahead, snap a few pictures, take some video.  If you really want awesome hospital pictures, hire someone to do your a Fresh 48 session for you while you are in the hospital.

Get a pro who knows how to handle making you and the baby look nice under the harsh florescent lighting, who knows how to pose you in flattering angles so that the post-partum swelling is less noticeable.  I don’t even currently offer Fresh 48s, but I will tell you to go find a pro every single time.

You will likely be very tired, regardless of how easy the delivery was, and if you end up needing a c-section you won’t be up for moving around much anyway.  So instead of hurrying to get 10 quick snapshots in before you leave, because you were overwhelmed with a 100 other things that came with suddenly becoming someone’s parent, put that task on someone else’s plate (and I don’t mean your partner, who will also be overwhelmed).  You will have so much to worry about, let someone else worry about taking the pretty pictures, and 10 years down the road you will be so happy you had a professional take them.

And to help keep you organized, I’ve made a hospital bag packing list so that you can quickly and easily pack up for the big day!  Get your copy here!