As you enter your third trimester your may find yourself ‘nesting’ more than ever, as your natural instincts kick in to get ready for the imminent new arrival. Whether this is your first baby or your fifth, packing your bag in preparation of labour, or the forthcoming C section, is an important task and we hope to help make it easier for you!
I am really excited to have collaborated for this post with Sheila from “Tidy Me”, a professional organiser who knows the best tricks and tips to make the most from your bag!
So, here is our step-by-step approach to packing the bag.
1. Find a suitable bag
You don’t want to be lugging lots of bags around with you, especially because it is very possible that the first time you go to hospital you may get sent back home again if your labour isn’t quite far along enough! Therefore, it is really handy to try to get all the essential items into a single bag.
We recommend a carry-on size wheely suitcase, ideally one which has 2 separate compartments which allow the bag to be easily divided into ‘mum’ and ‘baby’ sections.
2. Locate and prepare the items you need
It’s a really good idea to start early to prepare the bag, around 32-34 weeks, because there are quite a few items on the list so it may take some time to get hold of everything!
You may have the bag packed for a while – possibly even 8 weeks, so it’s a good idea to make sure that you wont be needing the items that are in the bag, or it defeats the point of having the bag ready to go!
That’s the reason we advise getting extras of the things you like to use regularly such as the toiletries, and ideally an extra phone cable if you have one. That way, if labour starts unexpectedly you don’t have to run around the house throwing extra things in the bag!
When it comes to the clothes for baby, it is a good idea to wash them all in non-bio washing powder and remove any sharp labels.
3. Find suitable dividers for your bag
Packing cubes or zip-lock bags are a great idea to divide the bag into sections. This makes it really easy for anyone to find what they need without messing up the rest of the bag. Label these with the headings you can find in our hospital bag checklist.
4. Get your birth partner to put it all together!
The most important person to be familiar with the contents of the bag is the person who will be with you during the birth! If you are having painful contractions and you really need a hair tie, you won’t want to have to get up and search for it yourself, or have them make a huge mess looking for a single item!
If they understand the way the bag is packed, then they will be very grateful for it later on.
5. Keep the bag somewhere easy to access
If you are likely to drive to the hospital then it is easy to keep the bag in the back of the car. If you will be arriving another way, then keep the bag somewhere easy to access for anyone e.g a coat cupboard or near your front door. You and your partner may need to go directly to hospital and have to send someone to pick it up!
If you want more details about the items to be packed, and some brilliant tips for folding and arranging baby clothes, then check out our video for the best tips and tricks!
Wishing you all the best for the birth of your baby!