I have showed you What to Pack in Your Hospital Bag – FOR MAMA and What to Pack in Your Hospital Bag – FOR BABY. This week I’m going to show you What to Pack in Your Hospital Bag – FOR YOUR SUPPORT PERSON.
My support person was my husband, so these items will be things I had packed for him, but they apply for anyone you have with you for support at the hospital.
I packed the bag for my husband because during the entire pregnancy he kept insisting that he didn’t need one. One hour into being in L&D he said he was cold, and I told him to check his bag, where he found a sweatshirt. Then he said his phone battery was low, and I told him to check his bag, where he found his charger.
Gym Bag
I used a gym bag to pack all of his clothes in. It was a good size for the items he needed and we already had one on hand.
Comfortable Clothes/Sweats
Labor and delivery can last a while. Make sure you have comfortable clothes packed for all of the waiting. Comfortable can mean different things for different people; maybe your support person prefers jeans over sweats, as long as they’ll be comfortable.
Change of Clothes
We only lived 10 minutes from the hospital, so my husband made a couple trips to and from the hospital while I was there, checking on our dogs and eventually our other kids in subsequent births. Since I knew he would be going back and forth, I didn’t pack as much for him as I did for myself & baby. But if you will be staying longer or aren’t close enough for trips to and from, make sure you have clothes to change into for the duration of your hospital stay.
Sweatshirt
L&D was especially cold; they tend to keep the temperatures lower because mom runs hot during delivery. My husband rarely wears a sweatshirt but within an hour of being in L&D he was cold and grabbed the sweatshirt out of his bag.
Warm Socks
For the same reason as mom, make sure to pack some comfy socks!
Blanket
The hospital will have somewhere for your support person to sleep once you’re in your maternity room. They even gave us a small pillow and thin blanket for my husband to use. But in the L&D room, there was a couch and that was it. I packed a fleece blanket for my husband which he used in both L&D and our maternity room for the duration of our hospital stay.
Toiletries
Since my husband went home, I didn’t pack him shampoo or soap – he took a shower at home. I made sure to have a travel toothbrush + toothpaste set, like I had for myself.
Electronics & Chargers
Newborn babies sleep A LOT. And while you’ll definitely want to sleep as much as you can, you will have downtime. I had my phone and tablet with me so I could binge watch movies & shows on Netflix. And make sure you don’t forget the chargers! If you have extras, pack them ahead of time in a Ziploc bag. If you don’t have extras, make sure you have a last minute packing list so you don’t forget anything when you’re headed out the door!
Headphones
My husband and I tend to watch different shows and movie genres so I added a pair of headphones to the bag with his chargers; that way we wouldn’t bother each other or wake the baby while streaming.
Snacks!
My husband liked some of the snacks I had packed in the big snack bag, but they were mostly things I liked, since I would be staying at the hospital the entire stay and using a lot of energy for birth and breastfeeding. I packed some snacks in my husband’s bag that he preferred, like his favorite nuts and chips. They were also snacks that didn’t need to be refrigerated, so I was able to have them in the bag when I packed it a month ahead of time, rather than needing to remember to grab something quick on the way out the door.
Who was your support person at the hospital? Did you have more than one person? What did they bring with them that you think should be added to the list? Was there anything that they FORGOT?
In case you missed it, you can see the first two parts of this series below and check in next week for the final post of the series – What to Pack in Your Hospital Bag – FOR THE PUMPING MAMA!
PART ONE – What to Pack in Your Hospital Bag – FOR MAMA
PART TWO – What to Pack in Your Hospital Bag – FOR BABY
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