Do hospitals provide nappies?

[MooseBreath]

Hi all.

I'm nearly 34 weeks pregnant and am starting to think about packing a hospital bag on the off chance that I start to labour early.

Do I need to pack nappies for the baby (and if so, how many?)? I would have assumed so and before the pandemic would have gone with ten or so. But since DH can't visit and bring extras if the baby and I need to stay in the hospital longer than anticipated, how can I get more nappies for the baby?

No they don’t, they may have a couple but they don’t provide. Just take a pack.

Newborn babies don’t use them quickly. The first poo is awful. Newborn nappies are tiny.

They will kick you out ASAP too!

Yes you need to bring your own nappies. If you leave the same day you’ll probably only need 3 or 4, if that but like you said I would pack around 10. Why can’t DH visit?

Yeah you have to take everything inc formula of you think you might need it.

@FoxtrotSkarloey I was aware about the 1 birthing partner, but not about fathers not being on the maternity wards. Random thought... what about when they leave hospital then? No way could I have carried a bag and baby in a car seat out on my own.

Thank you, everyone! I will bring formula as well in case breastfeeding doesn't work out. Anything else I may not have considered?

You need to bring your own, easiest thing would be to pack a full packet, I think it's about 20. Should be plenty for most stays.

Don't worry too much about being kept in unexpectedly longer, if it happens they aren't going to leave your baby hungry, naked or in dirty nappy. The will be spare stuff for people who go into unexpected labour away from home, they will either let you use them until your discharged, or until they can arrange for your DH to drop off supplies safely.

Check with your hospital first about formula, mine doesn't allow you to use your own formula and they provide it for you.

The newborn bounty pack they give you at the hospital has a full pack of newborn nappies.

You need double the amount of maternity pads that you think you need. I got through 3 packs in 36hrs. 2 at a time and I was still bleeding through.

Yes to loads of maternity pads. I took a whole pack of nappies in and just brought home what we didn't use.

If you would like to breastfeed my recommendation is to consider hand expressing ahead of time. Into syringes, label with the date and freeze them, take them in in a small cool bag. Hand them over on arrival, the postnatal ward will keep them frozen for you, they defrost really fast when or if you need them. I did that with DC2 as my milk took AGES to come in with DC1 meaning we were told to supplement with formula - while there is absolutely nothing wrong with that I got very stressed and upset about it and having a bit of breathing space and the ability to top up what DC2 was getting without using a bottle was a weight off my mind. I genuinely think that helped with establishing feeding quite easily with DC2 as I was much more relaxed.

I would take a small full pack. Do t forget flip flops for the shower. A pack of wipes the get the worst of the poo off then cotton wool to wash their bum. Midwives can be funny if they catch you using wipes but if you finish off with wet cotton wool it's good compromise. Nipple cream. The expensive lanolin one that starts with a L ( cant spell it) . Take a towel for you as well as they dont supply them either. A Muslim or two as newborns puke up gunk so maybe some bibs.

@Marina How did you express in advance? I thought your milk doesn't come until the baby is born?

Muslim? Muslin!

@Legoandloldolls I think I would struggle to convince even one Muslim to climb into my case!

Lansinoh. It's amazing stuff.

The newborn bounty pack they give you at the hospital has a full pack of newborn nappies. eh? Didn't have one of those with my twins in Dec

Lots of changes of clothes for the baby.

@MooseBreath be very careful stimulating your breast and nipples for milk before birth as it can bring on Labour.

Full milk doesn’t but colostrum does - I started “leaking” (so glamorous...) from about 34/35 weeks each time.

This article may be helpful - abm.me.uk/breastfeeding-information/antenatal-expression-colostrum/

And Kelly Mom is a great resource for breastfeeding questions too

kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/hand-expression/

Honestly though, only do it if you think it will reduce pressure on you - for me it did as I felt “prepared” which meant I was more relaxed which helps with feeding easily and calmly. And if you need formula whether to supplement or exclusively that’s totally cool too - as long as you and baby are well and happy nothing else matters!