Hospital bag checklists

Pack at 35 or 36 weeks

Nothing is especially likely to happen at 36 weeks. The point is that a packed bag stops being a job on your list, and that’s worth something on its own.

It pairs with the birth plan, which wants to be in the bag rather than on the kitchen table.

Mine sat by the door from 36 weeks and I stopped thinking about it altogether, which was rather the point. It also means that if something does happen early, or if you’re sent in for monitoring and end up staying, the bag is by the door rather than theoretical.

Ring your unit before you buy anything

This is the single most useful thing on the page. Maternity units differ on what they provide and what they’ll accept, and the differences cost money.

Ask whether they supply nappies for the ward, what their policy is on formula and what format they accept, whether you can eat and drink in labour, and whether they want you to bring anything specific such as a birth ball. Ten minutes on the phone saves a trolley dash and a shelf of unopened packets.

Two bags, clearly labelled

Put the birth and admission things in the first bag. Everything for going home goes in the second, which stays at home until somebody is asked to bring it.

Space beside a hospital bed is limited and often shared. Nobody wants to unpack a large suitcase in a bay at four in the morning to find a phone charger, least of all the person who packed it and is now not in a position to explain where anything is.

Tell your partner what’s in which bag. Write it on a luggage label if necessary. This sounds excessive right up to the point where you aren’t in a state to answer questions.

What actually matters on the day

Your maternity notes. Your phone and a long charging cable, because hospital sockets are never where you would like them. That’s genuinely it, and everything else can arrive later with somebody else.

The rest of the list is comfort, and comfort matters, but nothing on it’s worth worrying about at eight centimetres.

If you’re having a caesarean

The differences are smaller than people expect and they’re all about the abdomen. Underwear that sits well above the wound rather than across it. Loose nightwear and soft waistbands. Slip on shoes, because bending isn’t going to appeal for a while. A small firm pillow to hold against your middle when you cough or when the car goes over a speed bump, which is a piece of advice that sounds trivial until the first speed bump.

Stays after a planned caesarean are often a little longer, so pack for that and let your partner top the bag up.

Follow your hospital’s fasting instructions exactly, and don’t pack wound creams or dressings unless your maternity team has specifically asked you to. The ward handles wound care.

What not to bother with

Anything valuable. Anything scented that might go anywhere near sore skin. Large quantities of newborn size clothing, since babies arrive in a range of sizes and somebody can fetch the right one. A full make-up bag, packed with great optimism at 34 weeks and returned home untouched.

Where this comes from

The checklists follow the NHS hospital bag guidance published under Best Start in Life, along with NHS maternity unit advice on preparing for a planned caesarean and on caesarean recovery. Sources are listed on the last page of each PDF and were checked in August 2026.

This is practical packing guidance, not medical advice. Your midwife and your maternity unit know your pregnancy and their own ward, and their instructions take priority over anything printed here.