Your Birth Bag: What to Pack, What to Leave, and A Couple Extra Tips
“What should I pack in my birth bag?” We get asked this question a lot as birth doulas here in the Minneapolis, St. Paul and greater Twin Cities area. Our team has decades of collective expertise, as well as real life experience birthing our own babies (nine total!).
While everyone’s birth bag will be personal to them, there are some mainstay items we recommend everyone bring with them to their birthing location. Whether you’re giving birth in a hospital setting with OB’s, traveling to a out-of-hospital birth center with midwives, or planning to birth at home, everyone should have a hospital birth bag ready.
Who needs a bag?
We always recommend a bag for each person present at the birth. This means there should be at least one bag for the birthing parent, one bag for any partner or support people, and a bag for your baby.
The person giving birth will likely need the most items, so plan for this bag to be the biggest. The birthing person’s bag should include items for both labor and postpartum.
Your partner or support person will also want to pack a bag. Birth can be unpredictable, so it’s important your support team has at least one change of clothes and any other items they may need, like medications or contact lenses case. Your support person can usually get away with a backpack or carry-on sized bag.
Lastly, you’ll need a couple items for your baby. Depending on where you’re giving birth, you may need to pack some diapers and wipes. Your baby’s bag should also include an outfit or two; most parents usually use their diaper bag to pack their baby’s items.
What’s in the bag?
As a rule, it’s better to overpack. Let go of the worries that people will judge you. You’re having a baby! You get to bring whatever you want. It’s better to have something you may not use than to wish you had something you left behind.
Below, we’ve created an easy checklist for you to use for packing each bag.
What’s NOT in the Bag?
There are only a few “items” we recommend leaving at home, not only to save on space in your birth bag, but to better support your experience..
Breast pump
Unless you’re planning to exclusively pump, most people will not need to use their breast pump right away. If you do need to use a breast pump, for example if your baby has a NICU stay, your provider team can loan you a hospital grade breast pump. Hospital grade breast pumps are the only pump recommended for establishing your milk production.
Anyone who will take away from your birth experience
It can be really hard to say “no,” especially if someone is insistent on being present for your baby’s birth. Please take our advice, just say “no.” If you’re concerned a person would take away from your ability to relax and stay focused during labor, don’t bring them with you. Labor is a hormonal experience and can be easily disrupted, especially if someone in your birth space is making you feel watched or judged.
Expectations to update family and friends
Many people feel an obligation to let family and friends know when they go into labor. While some may feel supported by regular text messages with well wishes, others may get the feeling of being watched and waited on. Once again, these feelings could lead to disruption in your labor. Not only that, it could make your support person feel they need to pause supporting you to give regular updates. We recommend talking about this ahead of time and making a decision firmly in one direction or the other.
One last tip!
Make your birth bags as easy to sort through as possible. We recommend using reusable bags or compression cubes to pack like things together. This makes it really easy to access all of the items in your bag, without having to take everything out and then stuff it back in.
What are you packing in your birth bag? If you already had your baby, what was the one thing you couldn’t live without? Did we miss anything important? Share with us in the comments!