What items did you wish you had taken? Giving birth

[Frenchylove]

I will be giving birth to my first baby soon and was wondering what did you wish you had taken with you? I have followed the NHS packing list but would like to add a few extra bits to make me and little one more comfortable. I will be in hospital for at least 3 days

I know this sounds really basic, but I forgot to bring a hair scrunchie and was desperate to get my hair off my face and neck. I had to send my husband out to buy one.

Good luck and congratulations. Hope all goes well and you have a nice easy delivery!

I didn't give birth in the UK but the very longest phone charger you can possibly find and a pair of shower flip flops are handy for any hospital stay.

For c section recovery, I really needed a water cup with a straw and preferably also a handle.

About half of the stuff I took! I barely used anything except for a phone charger, a cold drink, and a flapjack!

Cosy socks. Feet get cold in labour!!.
Cosy blanket for yourself. Napping with a hospital sheet isn't fun..
Magazine and a pen!! Newborn dc sleep a lot. You won't - do a puzzle!

take your own pillow , plenty of snacks , bottle with a straw and a bit of a random one but I loved using a roll on pulse point scent , I used lavender and now it reminds me of having a newborn . It’s also nice to have a nice light scent that dosnt take away the lovely newborn smell that babies have .

Definitely a very large cup with handle and straw. I also constantly craved something sweet to drink and didn't take enough in with me.
Flip flops for the shower. My own pillow. Long phone charger.
Peri bottle or whatever they're called for rinsing when going to the toilet.
Adult diapers/nappies. The pads were so annoying.

A pillow! Sounds basic but the nurse had to hunt for one for me, she joked there wasn’t enough to go round. She had to pinch one from another bed

Definitely an extremely long phone charger. However long you think you need, make it longer 😆 The beds are a bitch to get around.

What makes you think you’ll be in for at least 3 days? I had preeclampsia, one EMCS and one ELCS and still only stayed 24 hours 🤷‍♀️

If you’re not a fan of plain water, one of those tiny very concentrated squash. I was so thirsty after giving birth and got though a ton of squash.

Snacks! I only took a couple of granola bars and I wish I'd taken way more nice things to eat. Definitely the long phone charger that someone else mentioned too.

A peri bottle is a must! You can use it to spray on yourself while you wee and it dilutes your urine to prevent stinging if you have stitches. It’s also an easy way to clean up each time you go to the loo and change your pad.

Earplugs if you’re expecting to be in before the baby is born. Wards are LOUD!

Snack snack and more snacks. And juice.

Painkillers, it was a nightmare trying to grab a poor nurse for 2 paracetamol

Both my labours ended in a week stay

My own pillow
Earplugs
Big cardigan/dressing gown
Blanket
Extra knickers
Snacks
Long phone charger
Book or puzzle book
Pen
Sweetener for my coffee
Headphones to watch Netflix on my phone

Long cable for phone charger. Earplugs/headphones

High waisted massive pants

Flip flops

Lipsyl, maternity wards are like the tropics!

If you’re labouring a flannel, a cold compress in labour is heaven!

They wouldn’t even let me have two paracetamol!

I had csections and they only allowed me to have 1 paracetamol at a time because I was under 50kg 🙄 Even though I’ve been taking two at a time like every other adult for my entire adult life.

Second time around I had a case full of boxes 😆

All the stuff I’d carefully chosen and packed was entirely irrelevant, the whole thing went insane. I dont think I even got a chance to open my bag. But all the suggestions on this thread are good!

A long, thin dressing gown. Everyone tells you not to take one/hospitals are not etc but I really wish I’d had one for privacy reasons!

Extra pants and PJ or jogging bottoms. I had pelvic floor damage which led to continence issues. A packet of incontinence pads in your bag just in case. They worked as maternity pads, but vice versa isn't the case, and wards don't give them out.

I can honestly say that during Labour I used very little from my bag. The hospital had everything I needed or I just didn’t care.

my DP brought a few things back to hospital for me but were mostly pjs for me and snacks. I had packed enough for baby but I just bled through a few pj bottoms once I had the catheter out and could wear bottoms again.

Not necessarily a recommendation, more an anecdote but my friend snuck a tiny bottle of Prosecco and two plastic glasses in and we toasted my new baby (her now godchild) when he was just hours old. Such a lovely moment.

On a sensible note, I would say anything that makes you feel more human. Toiletries, clothes, perfume - just do it. It’s an alien concept.