What to pack in Labour Bag?

Jay-Jay_4

...some kitchen roll.


After the baby's born you'll need to wash 'down there' quite often, especially if you have stitches or a tear. Using the same towel isn't very hygenic so pat yourself dry with kitchen roll and throw it away.

Do the same thing when you get home and you won't have lots of washing to do either.

Claudie

I took some face wipes and went through tons of them, I found them very refreshing. And as I am soooo paranoid (please don't tell me I know!) I took a small bottle of the gel antibacterial handwash that doesn't need rinsing off. Actually I still keep a bottle of this in my handbag - it is great when out on the road and you have to use public facilities, there never seems to be any soap.

Oh I also took moist toilet tissue - no need to explain!

I think I may sound mad but I am really rather normal, honest.

gettingitsorted

I always take any sort of personal stereo in my hospital bag especially if you find music calming or relaxing mine was a god send ,also snack food,fruit and plenty of juice /water etc as i always got hungry and thirsty after the birth and always seemed to time it wrong and go into labour at t time and then miss hospital t time as well.

inkie

Hi

One idea is to keep the 'labour ward' essentials for you & babe in a separate bag to all the other stuff - this means that you arn't carting everything around to the labour ward, and you can easily get to things. This also means that us midwives and others arn't tripping over loads of stuff, as I don't know about yours but our labour rooms arn't so big!?
re: towels - the ones for drying yourself with that is - take as dark as colour as possible - or red ones - I am sure you can work out why.
Big pants - preferably the ones that come up to your waist - if you end up having a section, then they will not catch on your stitches, and also ensure that all necessary padding is kept in place.
If you are planning to breastfeed then take in a couple of 'nipple shields', as many units do not offer these. These are not always advocated, but if it's the difference between someone packing in feeding whose nipples are so sore, and them persevering - I always recommend them to mums. I used them temporarily for a couple of weeks with my second as I has thrush on my nipple, which led to a sinus on it (ouch!), but it meant I persevereved and continued feeding her for 12 months.

And don't worry if it all happens so quickly - the unit always has 'emergency supplies!'
HTH

elaine373

I always packed a small bag for when i went in with a few items for baby and me)and left another at home for my husband to bring in after i had had the baby. Dunno if its been mentioned but change for the phone or a phone card is handy.

*Louise*

All of the previous thingas mentioned and....

Going-home outfit for the baby.

Breast pads for when your milk comes in...your boobs are going to be bigger and heavier than you have ever known!!

Money - so if you do realise you have forgotten something, you can send someone to the hospital shop to buy it.

sarahlouise210

*Louise* wrote:

Breast pads for when your milk comes in...your boobs are going to be bigger and heavier than you have ever known!!

Ahhh ..how very true this is!! And you would not believe how fantastic cabbage leaves will feel on those concrete boobs !

Of all the advice given I think the best is ..your own pillow ..your own mug and
the biggest knickers you can get! you wont need hardly any clothes for baby ..its so hot in hospital they are best off in a vest!

Good Luck!

Becles

My Mam organised a family tea with the new baby, which coincided with the day my milk came in. I had all these family members wanting to hug me, but I felt like my boobs were going to explode. I had to say there was an exclusion zone around them :rotfl:

kit

With regards to pants...... tesco do 'value' pants.... they are not very sexy but REALLY comfy and you can get a pack of 2 pairs for about 80p.... while in hospital I just used and threw away to save worrying about staining them etc. MUCH better than paper ones!!

LearningToSave.

with both my daughters i used always nightime towels(purple pack) with wings......far better than maternity towels.

as mentioned before 'moist' toilet paper!!

i also made sure i took dark bath towels(either maroon or navy) to use when i was able to have a shower,the first time i couldnt have one until morning and would have had to walk back up the coridoor and into the ward with a stained towel....not nice.....second time was ok though as i had one straight away in the labour room(only had bath first time).

if you are bottle feeding have a few cartons of ready made in your bag....i bottle fed nmy second from the start and although they gave me as many bottles as needed in hospital they were very arsey about giving me one for the journey (hadnt been fed for hour and half,half hour to get home--knew i wouldnt be able to make a bottle in time-i had bought powder ready you see just not ready made,hadnt forseen that!)

i also did as others did packed a smaller bag with the basics in then left a larger bag at home in case i had to stay in longer but i was discharged within 12ish hours both times.