Birth Hospital Bag Checklist

Who this is for

Four lists rather than one pile: what the birthing parent wants to hand, what the baby needs, what whoever is going along should bring, and the paperwork. Each list ends in blank lines, because the useful half of any packed bag is the part somebody added themselves.

Anyone packing a bag before a hospital or birth centre birth, partners and birth companions who have been asked to bring it in later, and people packing a second bag to leave in the car or by the door.

What this helps you track

• What goes in the bag for the birthing parent, ticked as it goes in
• A separate list for the baby, so it is not packed from memory
• What the partner or birth companion brings for themselves
• The documents and details to have with you, written down once
• Where the bag is, who is bringing it, and what is still at home

How to use it

1. Fill in the name, the place you are booked in to and who is bringing the bag at the top of the sheet.
2. Pack each list in turn and tick as things actually go in, not as you think of them.
3. Use the blank lines for anything your own midwife or the place you are going has asked you to bring.
4. Write on the sheet what is deliberately left out and where it is — a bag that is missing something on purpose is not the same as one that forgot it.
5. Keep the documents list with the bag rather than in it, and note in the last box where anything is if it lives elsewhere.
6. Tick it through once more a few days later; the second pass is the one that catches the chargers.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

When should I pack it?

Whenever suits you and whenever you have been advised to. There is no date, week or timescale printed on this sheet, and there is not going to be — ask your own midwife and write what they say in the notes.

Why is the baby's list separate?

Because it gets packed by a different person at a different moment, and it is the one most often done last. Keeping it apart means it can be checked on its own.

What should go on the documents list?

Whatever the place you are booked in to asks for, plus your own notes, contact numbers and anything about how you want to be contacted. What is needed differs by country and by hospital — check with yours and write it in.

Is one bag enough?

That is between you and the place you are going. Plenty of people pack a labour bag and a longer stay bag; print two sheets and label them at the top if that is what you are doing.

Can the partner use the same sheet?

Yes — the third list is theirs. It is short on purpose and ends in blank lines, because what somebody needs to sit through a long day is personal.