Items that you will actually use and how I’m packing differently approaching my second birth
Approaching child birth can be overwhelming, especially if this is your first time. Whether you are Type A obsessively organised or more of a go with the flow type, birth can really throw any and every plan you had out the window – including items you may need in your hospital bag. (Hello emergency c-section)
I think I googled and cross referenced every hospital bag checklist I could find on the internet months before entering the final stages of my first pregnancy, and found they are all more or less the same. After what I thought was successfully packing my hospital bag here are my recommendations, regrets and things I’d do differently as I approach the birth of my second child.
To clarify this list is for the products for YOU – The post partum stage is the hardest, so much emphasis is put on the baby and the birth we often overlook ourselves. Stay tuned for the items to pack for your baby in my next blog.
Maternity Pads
An absolute must, whether you have natural (vaginal) or a c-section delivery your birth will be followed by weeks of not-so-pleasant bleeding. I recommend packing at least 2 full packets. A great brand I use is Bare Mum herbal infused post partum pads
Maternity Bras
A complete necessity whether you have decided to attempt breastfeeding or not your breasts are incredibly sensitive post-birth. A few golden rules for maternity bras –
- Wire free bras are a must
- Must be able to easily clip down or pull to the side using one hand because let’s be honest you do everything one handed once you have a baby.
- Size up from your current breast size at around 8 months pregnant, your milk should arrive days 3-5 Post-birth and all I can say is wow, hello watermelons! You want to make sure your maternity bra can handle the expansion while allowing you to stay comfortable
Great brands I have used and recommend are: Bubba Bump Maternity and Nursing Bra and the Mumma Milla Nursing Bra
Post Partum Underwear
Don’t make the mistake and think any old underwear will do the trick, the post partum bleeding is no joke! You want durable, super absorbent underwear designed precisely for this job. The Bare Mum post partum briefs are amazing as not only are they super durable they have special pockets for ice pack inserts. I used Bonds post partum underwear for my first which I found okay but not as absorbent as the Bare Mum briefs – they are the best!
Breast Pads
Think pads like that time of month but just for your boobs. To be completely honest these aren’t a necessity. Breast pads are designed to stop milk leaking onto your clothes or making your skin sticky between feeds. In most cases your milk won’t arrive until days 3-5 most women will be getting ready to leave the hospital by this time or may already be home. I found breast pads more useful after establishing feeding, at the beginning I didn’t mind a bit of leakage as it was good to see if the milk was actually successfully arriving.
If deciding to pack in your bag, 1 pack of disposable pads like the nanobébé day and night nursing pads is fine or a great sustainable option are the Bubba Bump 14-Pack organic bamboo reusable breast pads
Sanitary Ice Packs
These are amazing to have- but will depend on your hospital and the type of room you have whether you will be able to freeze them or not. Long gone are the days of frozen cabbage leaves (I’m sure you’ve been told of this by your mum, grandma etc) but we’ve come along way since that and these are much easier to use. Brands that are both amazing and aesthetically pleasing are – Lactivate Ice and heat packs and the beautiful Bare Mum Warm and Cool inserts that sit perfectly in the PP underwear mentioned above. Ice and heat packs can be used for your Vagina, Breasts, C-section incision but also on sore shoulders, neck and if hot simply cooling you down on your forehead.
Silverettes
A true holy-grail of breast comfort, helping your cracked, dry and sometimes bleeding nipples like no other product. Silverettes are simply a must. I did not have these in my hospital bag for my first because I actually had no idea they existed. But you can be damn sure they are coming with me in my bag this time!
Breast Feeding Pillow
Breast feeding pillows for me are in my top 5 must-have items for a new mother. It might seem simple but piling up enough pillows to have your baby in the best position to correctly latch is harder than you think. Then – naturally pillows sink and move around and you constantly have to re-adjust. A breastfeeding pillow is a true back-saver it’s a firm pillow that perfectly contours your body and allows you to rest your baby at the perfect height for breastfeeding. For me – a must have!
A few great brands :
Done by Deer Nursing and baby pillow
Beaba Big Flopsy Maternity & Nursing Pillow
Theraline Comfort Maternity Cushion
Toiletries bag
A toiletries bag with the essentials is a given. You want to include everything you need such as medications including your prenatal vitamins, you’ll need these now more than ever to nourish your heavily depleted body. Other items you may want to include could be makeup (c’mon we all want to look half-alive for our first little Instagram post announcing our baby) Nail files, Lip Balm, Dry Shampoo, and makeup wipes.
Robe & easy to remove Pj’s
Upon my cross referencing of all the original “hospital bag checklists” I always saw button down pj’s as a must, I find this complexing as when you have a baby you are usually working with one hand most of the time and to undo buttons is just a pain in the a**. Personally I’d much rather opt for a nice stretchy bamboo cotton type robe or just a stretchy seamless singlet top. You’ll find you’re sitting in your underwear majority of the time or half naked with your boobs out trying to feed your baby or soothe them. A robe is great to chuck on if you have a guest pop in. Don’t worry about covering up for the nurses, they’ve seen it all – and more!
Great options include:
Jasmine and Will Pampelone Long Cotton Robe
Bubba Bump 3 in 1 Labour, Delivery and Nursing Gowned
Extra Large Water Bottle
Great to have to keep up your hydration, you are bed bound for quite some time and getting up continuously to fill up the little paper cup the hospital provides you with is just annoying. My current fave is the Mama Bottle
Extra Long Phone Cord Charger
This is so overlooked, but amongst the hundreds of well wishing texts, instagram comments on your newest arrival post and you googling at 3am “is this normal?” You’ll need all the battery life you can get. Hospital power plugs aren’t designed for your phone use so they are usually located in hard to reach places, and if your phone cord isn’t long enough you’ll find yourself getting into awkward and painful positions just to charge your phone. Trust me you’ll thank me later! The brand I recommend is Apple, get the fast charger (charges so quickly) with the long 2m cord.
Milk Storage Bags and Milk Collectors
Storage bags, milk collectors and colostrum harvesting syringes are great to have on hand but not complete necessities only because your milk may not come in while you’re in the hospital. Firstly – what are they? Let me explain:
Milk Storage bags– simply as they sound, sanitary storage bags to safely store excess milk you may have in between feeds. You usually only start using these once you have established feeding and are starting to use pumps.
Milk Collectors – these are like little cups that sit in your bra to catch your “let down” leaking milk that sometimes comes out of your breasts in between feeds. We use these because you will be surprised at how much milk you can actually catch sometimes enough to fill up a whole storage bag, milk that would be otherwise be soaked up into breast pads or clothing.
Colostrum Syringe – your colostrum AKA liquid gold is the most pure, calorie dense milk that is produced in your breasts before you even give birth, with strict medical guidance you can begin to try and “harvest” your colostrum from 36 weeks pregnant. Here is a how- to. A newborn baby can survive a few days on just a teaspoon of this colostrum so if you are successful at harvesting yours you can store it in these HAAKA colostrum syringes and your midwives will help you give this to your baby after birth.
And there you have it, my ultimate guide to packing your hospital bag for you!
