Preparing for an out-of-hospital birth is exciting—and a bit nerve-wracking. It means your long journey of pregnancy is finally coming to a close and baby is almost here! Having your labor and birth bag packed and ready to go can help ease stress and ensure you have everything you need for the big day.
I had our son, Oliver, in a birth center and here’s exactly what to pack in your birth center bag (free checklist coming soon!). I had a separate bag packed with extra supplies in case we transferred to a hospital (that blog post is coming soon).
If you’re having a hospital birth, a lot of these items still apply, so feel free to use this checklist too!
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Sneak Peak: my #1 absolutely ESSENTIAL item that helped me get through natural birth… a birth comb! Read below to find out how it helped 👇
Use a Rolling Suitcase
No matter if you’re giving birth in a birth center or hospital, I highly recommend using a rolling suitcase. Your significant other will most likely be carrying baby and your bags when leaving, so help make the load a bit lighter with a rolling suitcase. Plus you can bring one bigger suitcase for all your items instead of multiple smaller bags or backpacks.
Car Essentials
These are items for the car that can stay in the car while you are laboring. The less you need to transport back and forth or keep in the room, the better.
- Puppy pads for the car ride (in case your water breaks on the way there and to keep yourself from bleeding on the seats on the way back)
- Infant-rated car seat (significant other can bring this in just before leaving)
- Blanket for baby and you (you may just be in a robe when leaving and may be cold on the ride home)
Ice Chest
There were multiple items we either were bringing or needed to transport that required refrigeration, so we decided to bring an ice chest for it all. (What actually happened is I labored so quickly we were in a rush to get to the birth center so we forgot the ice chest, whoops! But we wished we remembered it for all the below items!)
- Going-home meal for you and your partner. Our birth center required that I eat a hearty meal before leaving the birth center. I’m so glad they did – the soup I brought tasted AMAZING freshly postpartum and was definitely needed after laboring for 8 hours. We brought some for my husband Josh too, just in case we transferred to the hospital.
- Snacks, drinks, and meals for you and your partner. Snacks during labor is so important! I brought chia seed packets, honey sticks, nut butter packets, and electrolyte powder. I would have brought this recipe for labor-aide, but again I labored so fast I didn’t have time to make it before leaving the house.
- Colostrum (if you’ve collected any). I collected colostrum during my 39th week pregnant, just in case there were any issues with breastfeeding that first day.
- Ice for transporting the placenta. We decided to bring my placenta home, and keeping it on ice is a must if you want to make pills or tinctures out of it.
- Something that is definitely not needed but we would have enjoyed having if we remembered was bringing a celebratory drink after labor. I would have loved to have some coffee with tequila creamer postpartum (the midwives were looking forward to it too!)
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Birth Center Bag
Now for the bulk of what to pack in your birth center bag. Here are all the items for you, baby, and your significant other. Again, this list is for a birth center. I had a separate bag packed in the event we transferred to the hospital and needed a few days worth of supplies. Our birth center’s policy was we were to head home after four hours or so, assuming baby’s and my vitals signs were good and there were no concerns.
For Mom:
- Disposable adult diapers (only if you want a certain brand – the birth center should have some for you)
- Frida Mom ice pack (just one)
- Tucks pads
- Dermaplast numbing spray
- Perineal spray (I like the Earth Mama brand and much prefer spray over foam! This link also includes their nipple butter in a pack.)
- Peri bottle (only if you want a certain style or brand, like this one. The birth center should have a standard peri bottle for you)
- Arnica (for natural pain relief, if your provider says it’s okay to take!)
- Belly binder, for if you’d like your midwife or provider to help you put it on. Or for extra support in the car ride home.
- Hair ties and headband (you’ll probably want your hair out of your face during labor)
- BIRTH COMB (this SAVED me during natural childbirth and was hands down the BEST THING I BROUGHT. I will tell every mom I know to BRING. A. BIRTH. COMB. I squeezed it for almost the entirety of my labor! It helped me focus on the sensation (not pain) of the comb teeth against my palm. And I didn’t know what to do with my hands during contractions, I just felt I had to squeeze something to ground myself during them. And during pushing I was squeezing with both hands – I would have loved a separate comb for each hand.)
- A handheld electric fan. So either you or your partner can hold it towards you — you’ll probably be very warm laboring!
- Slippers
- Comfy socks for if it’s cold
- Comfy clothes to labor and breastfeed in. Think a robe, button down night gown, or button down top with bottoms. I labored and went home in this button up nightgown and still wear it now in multiple colors. I love that it’s long so I didn’t have to wear pants with my adult diapers in the early postpartum days. The lace detail also makes me feel cute!
- Swim top (if you plan to labor in the tub and possibly want pictures taken where you’re covered up)
- Phone charger
- Water bottle (you should stay hydrated while laboring!)
- Wallet and insurance cards — especially important if you transfer to the hospital.
- Things to set the mood in the room, like electric candles, string lights, a speaker for music, inspirational sayings, etc. (To be honest, my eyes were closed for the majority of labor, so there was no point for the battery-operated candles we brought.)
For Your Partner
Here’s what we packed for my husband, Josh. We packed more items for him in our just-in-case-we-transfer-to-the-hospital bag.
- Sweatshirt and sweatpants — usually mamas are very warm when laboring and want the rooms chilly! This was in case he got cold.
- Swim trunks, just in case he got in the water with me (he didn’t but they were nice to have).
For Baby
Now for the exciting part – items for baby! We kept it light for the birth center bag but again, had more things packed for the hospital bag. I’ll have that blog post coming soon!
- A couple size 1 diapers
- Travel pack of wipes
- Two zipper pajamas, one size preemie and one size newborn (since you won’t know how big or small they’ll be!)
- A special outfit and accessories, like birth announcement plaques, for any special photos you’d like taken at the birth center
- A muslin blanket to swaddle with (though we didn’t end up needing it at the birth center. We did skin to skin then put Oliver in the zipper pajamas for the car ride home).
Conclusion
I hope this list of what to pack in your birth center bag helps you feel more prepared for the big day! This should be a great starting point to build off of to fit your unique situation, needs and desires.
I have a free printable checklist coming soon. In the meantime, let me know in the comments if you feel I missed something!
You’ve got this, mama! 🤎