Hospital bag checklist – all the things you do and don’t need for you, your baby and the daddy

There are so many things to do and to prepare before the arrival of your new-born but such few time to research everything. I myself, am a mom who needs to have the perfect list and if it takes hours to research until I know what I really need. I don’t want to bring a huge suitcase with tons of stuff I will have no use for. Therefore, I have made a check-list that you can use to be sure to have everything you need in your hospital bag.

Mommy’s hospital bag checklist

1. A change of clothes or two:
   • Loose and casual tops and T-shirts
   • Two loose dresses
   • A cardigan or two
   • Two nursing nightgowns
   • A kimono or a dressing gown
   • Two nursing bras
   • Yoga pants or leggings or other comfortable pants
   • Socks
   • Disposable underpants
2. A nursing pillow
3. Flip Flops or anti-slip slip-ons
4. Towels & washcloths
5. Beauty Care Products :
   • A toothbrush and toothpaste
   • Neutral smelling shower gel: neutral because the baby’s favourite smell is mom’s own body without any added perfume. Don’t get me wrong, I loooove perfume and fragranced products but for a new-born, their smell can be really strong and overwhelming.
   • Neutral smelling shampoo & conditioner
   • Neutral deodorant
   • Face & Body lotion
   • A hairbrush and hairbands if needed
   • Breast pads: even if you do not want to breastfeed your baby, you should bring some with you
   • Nipple cream/ pure Lanolin
   • Make-up: yes taking care of yourself is very important, if you are used to putting on make-up you might want to feel like your prettiest self, maybe not the day of delivery but the next when your family and friends will come to visit you and the baby and a photographer might take pictures of you
6. Cute jewellery: small earrings and a bracelet will do, same reason as for the make-up
7. Glasses if needed
8. A tissue box if you or your family tend to become very emotional
9. A small bedside lamp: to be able to change diapers during the night without switching on the big neon lights.

It will take some time for your belly to get back to a normal size so for the first few days or weeks you will probably still look pregnant and need your pregnancy clothes.

Labour Bag checklist

1. A nebuliser
2. A camera with batteries and a charger
3. Phone & charger
4. Snacks & a water bottle
5. Magazines & relaxing music (& charger) since giving birth can take a while and in the beginning, you might get bored
6. A balloon if needed but most hospitals have them in the delivery room, I did not bring mine but sitting on the hospital’s balloon was the only position that was more or less comfortable after a couple of hours of labour pains

During labour and delivery, I ate only a few of the snacks I brought but I was really happy to have them during my stay at the hospital since I was hungry all the time.

Important Documents

1. ID card or passport
2. National insurance card (sécurité sociale)
3. Health insurance card (mutuelle)
4. Family register (livret de famille) if you have one
5. Your medical file in case you will give birth in a different hospital than intended
6. A pen and a notepad to write down all the advice you are going to receive. Of course, you’ll follow only the good advice.
7. Your birth plan
8. Telephone numbers of friends and family

Baby’s hospital bag checklist

1. Several Bodies size 56: you are probably going to stay for several days at the hospital and your baby might need a change several times a day
2. Several romper suits
3. A cardigan or two
4. A cap
5. Socks
6. A coat
7. A carry-nest
8. Several burp cloths
9. A diaper bag with diapers, wet wipes and a mat for when leaving the maternity
10. A comforter if needed

Daddy’s hospital bag checklist

(yes, daddy’s bag, you’ll be less stressed knowing that he is taken care of)

1. Snacks & Drinks
2. Coins for Snacks or the coffee machine
3. A phone charger
4. A book or magazines

To pamper yourself after giving birth (but not “needed”)

1. Bags of good tea
2. Small cakes and biscuits
3. A fruit basket
4. Some soft drinks or juices: also nice to have for your guests
5. Earplugs in case you are sharing your room or are not able to sleep with all these noises a baby makes at night
6. A mask for your eyes so you can take a nap during the day
7. Your favourite pillow
8. A book, magazines or Sudoku, yes you can always dream of having the time to read them…

Not Needed

1. A cute outfit for the delivery room: you will probably be wearing a surgical gown anyway
2. A breast pump
3. Sanitary towels: they are usually provided by the hospital and need to be much more absorbing than any sanitary towels you might know. In my experience, you are taken care of during your stay at the hospital but you will need them once you are home.
4. Underpants (except disposable ones)
5. Perfume: as mentioned before, I just love putting on a good perfume but this might not be the right time since your baby cannot see properly yet and needs to be able to rely on his sense of smell

I hope this list helps you to know what you need and will avoid further research. For both of my hospital stays I have preferred to pack too much so I was sure to have everything I needed. As I explained above, you can bring a book but you probably won’t have time to read anyway.
Please feel free to leave a comment in case you think I forgot something.