What to Actually Pack for the Hospital: The Group Chat Weighs In

There are approximately one million hospital bag packing lists on the internet. This is not that. This is what five Charlotte moms who have collectively given birth six times actually used, actually regretted packing, and actually wished someone had told them before they showed up with a robe and three pairs of pajamas they never touched.

I've linked specific products where I or my friends can vouch for them personally. Nothing here is sponsored or affiliated - these are just the things that actually made it off the nightstand. That said, most of this stuff doesn't need to be bought new. Check Facebook Marketplace, borrow from a friend, or grab the store brand equivalent. The point is the list, not the links.

The non-negotiables

• Your own pillow with a non-white pillowcase. The hospital ones are flat and smell like hospital. In a Novant prenatal class they said it's the single most common thing people leave behind because white pillowcases disappear into the hospital bedding. You've been warned.
• A fluffy blanket from home
• A long phone charger. The outlets will not be where you need them.
• Your own (BIG) water bottle with a straw
• Sound machine
• AirPods
• Snacks, more than you think. If people are visiting, make them bring you outside food too.
• Hard candy. Good distraction for when you can't eat during active labor.
• Pajamas - dark colored ones. Not your nice white and green Lake ones. Dark. You'll understand when you get there.
• Zip swaddles, the kind with velcro or a zipper, not a fold. I forgot mine and made my mom drive them over after the first night because I was too paranoid that the swaddle we did ourselves with the blanket would come loose while Jamie slept. Just bring them from the start.
• Hair elastics. You will get very sweaty and you do not want hair in your face during labor.
• Extra tote. You will accumulate a surprising amount of stuff and the hospital will not send you home with a bag. Bring one specifically for the haul out.
• Comfortable going-home clothes
• Coming home outfit for baby. For boys, a kimono-style shirt is worth it - no snaps or seams near the circumcision site.
• Nodpod (I'm obsessed with mine!) or eye mask. Relaxing, blocks light, helps with headaches during and after labor.
• Brush or comb
• Headphones
• Stroller fan. Clip it to your hospital bed during labor and recovery. You will be very warm. Have it charged before you leave the house and bring the charger.
• Wallet with insurance card and ID
• Glasses & contact lens solution (if applicable)
• Toothbrush & toothpaste
• Kindle or something to read/watch during the slow parts

Once you're there: ask for ice pops. The hospital has them and nobody tells you this.

For your partner

• Their own bath towel. The hospital ones are not great.
• Phone charger, AirPods, toiletries
• Something to sleep on (we brought a sleeping bag liner)
• Something to watch or read, because there will be a lot of waiting. One friend watched Netflix on her iPad with an inflated balloon in her cervix overnight while her husband snored in the chair next to her. Pack the iPad.

Leave these at home

• Robe
• Nursing bras (you won't need them until you leave)
• Flip flops
• FridaMom peri bottle (the hospital gives you one)
• Earplugs
• A nail file for the baby
• Multiple outfit options

You may want to just stay in your gown. Zero judgment. One friend washed her face and called it good. Two of us didn't shower at all. I packed a bath towel for myself and never used it.

A Presbyterian-specific note

If you're delivering at Novant Presbyterian: the showers are, in the words of someone who has used them twice, very sad. Fine for a quick rinse, not good for washing hair. Plan accordingly or just decide in advance you're not showering and feel great about it.

Not a thing to pack, but do it anyway

Download the free Huckleberry app before you go and have both you and your partner signed into the same account. The hospital will ask you constantly: when was the last diaper, when did they last eat, for how long. That room is a time warp and you will not remember. Use it at the hospital, not just when you get home.

What to grab on the way out

Take everything they offer. The mesh underwear alone is worth the hospital bill. All the diapers and wipes. The bulb syringe. Extra formula samples if they offer them. The peri bottle. Basically anything not nailed down that they put in front of you. That's what the extra tote is for.

Before you leave the house

• Have your pediatrician picked out before your due date. Both Novant and Atrium will require you to have a post-48 hour appointment scheduled before they discharge you. Don't be the person trying to find a pediatrician from a hospital bed at 2am.
• Make sure the car seat is installed correctly before you go into labor. Not a packing list item. Just saying.