Checklist · Labour, birth & the first day
A hospital bag checklist adapted to your birth setting
Pick where you are planning to give birth and the list rebuilds itself: a home birth adds pool kit, towels and a plan for who catches, a planned caesarean adds a post-op bag, a birth centre adds pool swimwear and a faster discharge plan. Tick items as you pack them, write down the preferences you want to discuss with your midwife, and print both.
1 · Your birth setting
The setting adds and removes whole sections, renames the extras card and rewords the items whose answer differs. Your ticks are kept when you switch.
2 · Packing timeline
3 · List & plan
copy, download, printYour ticks, your setting and your notes are saved in this browser under the key apprun:hospital-bag:v1, because a bag is packed over days rather than minutes. Nothing is uploaded, and clearing the key removes it all.
Hospital bag checklist —
Birth plan preferences
Tick one box per line: Want, Would rather avoid or No preference. Anything left on no preference is simply left out of the printed plan, which is a perfectly good answer. The notes boxes are for the things you would rather say out loud.
My preferences for labour and birth
!This is a planning aid, not medical advice. The lists describe things people commonly pack and preferences people commonly discuss with a midwife or obstetrician; they are not recommendations, and your own team's guidance comes first. A birth plan is a set of preferences, not a contract, and the safest plan is one a team can adapt to when birth does not follow the script.
How to use Hospital Bag & Birth Plan
Everything below runs in this tab. Nothing is uploaded, and no account is needed.
Step by step
- Choose your birth setting first. Hospital with an epidural, hospital without, a birth centre, home, a planned caesarean and a VBAC each build a different list, and the extras card is renamed and refilled for you.
- Work through the packing timeline. Filter to pack by 36 weeks for documents, baby clothes and electronics, pack by 38 weeks for everything else, and add when labour starts for snacks, the charger, the hot water bottle and the birth ball.
- Tick items as they go into the bag. Every section shows its own count, the strip at the top shows the whole bag, and Check all fills a section in one go. Your ticks are saved in this browser.
- Fill in the birth plan preferences with Want, would rather avoid or no preference, and use the notes box under each group for the things you want to say out loud.
- Print the list and the plan together, or copy the list, download it as Markdown, or download the birth plan as Markdown. Take the printed copy with you and leave a copy in your notes.
Details and limits
Why this one saves your progress
A bag is packed over days, in bursts, usually at midnight, so ticks are kept in this browser under one key: apprun:hospital-bag:v1. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is shared. Clear saved progress removes the key and starts again, and the list still works perfectly well with saving blocked.
The list changes with the setting
Sections are added and removed rather than greyed out: a planned caesarean swaps the labour section for a surgery-day section and renames the after-birth section, while a home birth adds pool kit, dark towels, a waterproof mattress cover, your own birth ball and a written plan for who catches. Items are also reworded where the answer differs by setting.
Quantities are a starting point
Every quantity is a common-sense default for one baby and one birth, not a rule. Some units supply pads, socks and hot water bottles; some do not. A home birth needs a full packet of nappies because there is no ward cupboard, and a birth centre discharge is often within hours, so that bag is packed to leave from.
A birth plan is preferences, not a contract
Write what you would like, not what you demand. Birth rarely follows a script, and the safest plan is the one a team can adapt to. Bring two printed copies, expect a conversation rather than an agreement, and ask for the reason whenever something is suggested that is not on your list.
Frequently asked questions
What should I pack for a home birth?
Everything a hospital supplies, plus the things a house does not: birth pool kit with a liner, hose and pump, six dark bath towels, a waterproof mattress cover or old duvet cover, dust sheets, old towels to kneel on, movable lamps, a hot water bottle, cleaning cloths and bin bags, and a written plan naming who catches and who calls for help. Pack a full packet of nappies, because there is no ward cupboard at home.
How is the bag different for a planned caesarean?
The labour section is replaced by a surgery-day section and the extras card becomes a post-op bag: high-waisted underwear that sits above the scar, loose clothing that does not rub it, a pillow to hold against the incision in the car, gas-relief bits such as peppermint tea, simeticone and straws, slippers with no fastenings, and a blanket to hold against the wound when you cough.
What should a birth plan contain, and what should it leave out?
Include the things that matter to you: pain relief, movement and positions, monitoring, water, the cord, skin-to-skin and the first feed, vitamin K, who is in the room, lighting and music. Leave out worst-case scenarios, instructions to staff and anything you have not discussed. Keep it to one page, phrase it as a preference, and expect a conversation rather than a signature.
When should I pack my hospital bag?
Documents, baby clothes and electronics by 36 weeks, because they are the things nobody wants to hunt for at 2am. Everything else by 38 weeks. Leave snacks, the phone charger, the hot water bottle, the birth ball and the ice lollies until labour starts, and keep the car seat fitted and checked well before then.
What should my birth partner bring?
Their own snacks and a refillable bottle, a long charger and a power bank, cash and cards for parking and vending machines, a pillow, a spare shirt, toothbrush and deodorant, any medication they take, a paper list of who to ring and when, massage oil, something to do at 3am, and swimwear if they might get in the pool with you.
Does a VBAC need a different bag?
Mostly the same, with three additions. Pack the birth plan written with your VBAC choices in it, a list of questions about monitoring, and a note of the signs you would call about, agreed with your team beforehand. Bring isotonic drinks and easy snacks because these labours are often long, and keep one bag that can move quickly if plans change.