5 Hospital Bag Must Haves

Lorna Phillip Author

Jul 01, 2021 |

If you have nothing else in your hospital bag, you must have these 5 key items! Believe me, you might struggle to get through labour without them!

• Lip salve

Dry lips are inevitable during birth. Think lip licking, lip biting, labour panting, gas & air sucking etc. etc. Dry lips can be incredibly annoying and during labour this annoyance is magnified by a thousand. The problem is easily remedied by having a lip salve to hand and when I say ‘to hand’, I don’t mean buried 6 feet under all the other stuff you’ve packed in your wash bag! Pop it somewhere that’s easy to find or hand it to your birth partner so they can give it to or apply it when you need it.

• Bendy straws

Your wonderful doula has reminded you to pack some water and isotonic drinks that come in bottles with a sports cap (you know the pop up and suck kind). However, you forgot to buy them or you left them in the fridge so now you have zero drinks in your bag.

No worries, your lovely midwife will not see you go thirsty; she’ll most likely fetch you a jug of iced water and a plastic cup so you can keep hydrated through labour and birth. So far, so good until you start instinctively manoevering yourself into all kinds of yoga-like positions. I can guarantee that very few of these positions are conducive to drinking water from an open cup (without spilling the majority of it down your neck and chest). I guess that’s one way to keep cool during labour! Also, the once simple task of bringing a full cup to your lips successfully can prove difficult when you’ve been labouring for a while. You’re tired, feeling somewhat weak, have shaky hands, maybe a canula and altered perception of how near or far the water is in relation to your mouth. Fear not, all is not lost; pack a few bendy (eco-friendly) straws. 😊

• Hair bands/head wraps/sleep bonnet

Whether you have long locs, a teeny weeny fro, a poker-straight lace front or 5 tracks in the back you’ll want to protect your crown and not come out of labour with a bird’s nest on your head. Whichever way you wear your hair, remember that they call it labour for a reason. It can be hard, hot, sweaty work and there may be water (in a birth pool) to contend with so make sure to pack what you need to keep your hair in check and off your neck!

• Spare pillow(s)

As a doula, I’ve supported births in a fair few hospitals. What do they all have in common? A lack of pillows!! You’ll definitely be given 1 pillow in your labour room but you’ll be lucky if you’re given any extras. Those lovely kneeling and leaning birth positions you researched whilst pregnant can be pretty uncomfortable if you don’t have any padding under your knees, elbows and other body parts. Buy a couple of cheap pillows and pop them in the back of the car before labour day as they’re easily forgotten if they’re packed away in the house.

• Noise cancelling headphones

Headphones come in really handy. Hospitals are very noisy places so I suggest putting them on from the moment you get through the door. If you’re in triage, headphones will block out the din of the busy comings and goings and keep you in your zen like bubble until you reach your labour room. You may want to keep your headphones on as it will probably be even noisier in and around your room. Beeping monitors, screeching dopplers, hospital staff bustling in looking for various bits of medical kit, the primal sounds of other people giving birth can be a bit unnerving. If your birth partner’s been well prepared, they should be able to answer many of your midwife’s questions and of course, they’ll ensure that your midwife has read your birth plan so no need to be part of the convo if you’d rather remain in your dream-like birthing zone.

Of course, another great thing about headphones is that you can play your hypnobirthing tracks from your extremely fabulous hypnobirthing doula (cough, cough)! 😊

Helpful? Share with a pregnant friend!

Categories: : Hospital Bag