What Goes in a Hospital Bag for Partners? (Checklist for Dads)
Here’s our hospital checklist for husbands, because birthing partners need to go to the hospital, too! In this dad hospital bag packing list, see what we took and what was the most helpful during birth.
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After feeling like we failed a bit during our first child’s birth, we vowed to do better with packing for the hospital the second time when our second baby came along.
Specifically, we vowed to do better with the “partner hospital bag” or “husband hospital bag.” A lot of people bypass the need for good packing on this one because the hospital bag with the mom’s and baby’s stuff takes priority!
But partners and husbands are important at the hospital, of course—to support the birthing mom, be by her side and have the energy that she can’t have, when the baby has to be changed and finally, put into a car seat for the first time.
So here’s how to expertly pack a hospital bag if you’re the birthing partner or husband when a new baby is coming. Let’s go!
Did you pack the birthing mom’s hospital bag yet? Use our checklist for mom’s hospital bag, which will tell you what NOT to bring, as well as what to pack early on.
Clothes
This category is pretty simple! A hospital stay is usually about 2 days, so dads can pack light for clothing.
Change of clothes
It is impossible to know how long that first night and day of labor and birth will be. If you plan to be at the hospital for two days or so, and most couples are, a change of clothes seems about right!
My tip: Even if it is summer, bring pants and a layer, as hospitals are often kept at very cool temperatures.
Pajamas
An overnight stay for one night or two (or even three) nights at the hospital means the need for some comfy PJs, unless you are OK sleeping in jeans. Dan has packed comfy Mott & Bow sweatpants (recommend!), a clean T-shirt and a hooded sweatshirt for sleeping in.
Button-down shirt for “skin to skin”
This is an easy one to forget, and we only remembered it the second time around for our second child because we looked back on photos from our first child and wondered why Dan was wearing a button-down flannel shirt!
Most hospitals and birthing centers recommend the “skin to skin” method of comforting the newborn in the first few hours, days and weeks. To let Dad or the partner in on this, a shirt that opens down the front is ideal.
Below, we pictured a relaxed button-down from Quince. To see more about them, read Dan’s Quince men’s shirts review.
Slippers
Some friends of mine said their husbands packed a pair of slippers for the hospital, as there’s just lots of standing around, as well as getting into “bed” and getting up again to change the baby or feed the baby.
If you aren’t a slippers person, wearing a pair of Birkenstocks or slide-on sandals that also allow you to wear socks, is Dan’s go-to choice.
Bedding
It would be a big assumption to assume that the hospital will provide hotel-level bedding for a husband or birthing partner at the birth (the hospital likely will not). So, here aer some ideas of what to pack in the husband or partner’s hospital bag.
A pillow from home
Yes, take a pillow from home for both of you! This packing item is here to remind you that Mom may want a pillow from home, but Dad will benefit from one, TOO. Hospital pillows may be really flat or dull.
My friend said, “Bring a real pillow — I convinced him (my husband) and he thanked me.”
And if you’re in the market for new pillows (we were)…. let us recommend our Quince alternative down pillows because they’re comfy.
A blanket
We learned the first time that hospital rooms are kept very cold, and there may not be sufficient bedding for the birthing partner. So… bring your own blanket (BYOB!). A travel blanket is nice and compact for taking in your light luggage of choice.
Eye mask and ear plugs
Sleeping in a hospital room is not exactly relaxing. And trying to catch some Zzzz’s during a long labor in a delivery room also isn’t so peaceful, with the beeping of equipment. If partners want to try and nap, having an eye mask and ear plugs in the bag help out a lot.
I recommend the Quince sleep mask and the Flare Audio ear plugs.
Tech items
I’m not sure we would’ve survived our first child’s birth without all the tech ideas for packing, below! (And here’s also how we’re improving for #2.)
Phone charger(s)
…the 10-foot kind! One of the best tips we got when we were feeling out advice for packing my hospital bag were to get 10-foot phone charging cords, and that was the most helpful thing on the list!
As an easy pick for couples, here is a 2-pack of 10-foot-long iPhone cables (USB-C) and this handy 3-pack of lightning cables for charging.
Camera
Another funny story is that after the birth of our first child, Dan’s camera was not fully charged, and the battery died after about 3 photos of our newborn.
Can you believe it?
Lesson learned: pack a fully-charged camera, extra batteries and a way to charge those batteries, and pack it well ahead of time (maybe even around 35 weeks—it can’t hurt!). This is the type of thing that can go in the husband or birthing partner’s hospital bag.
Laptop (optional)
If you want to do what Dan does and “dump” your photos onto a laptop so that they can live safely somewhere else, heaven forbid your camera’s memory card got damaged, bring a laptop.
Or, bring a laptop to pass away time during long waiting periods of labor (stalled labor can happen), or to write out a birth announcement from the postpartum room, if you wish to do that really fast.
Another helpful reason to have a laptop with you both (and in your husband or partner’s hospital bag) is if you wind up in the hospital for many days.
(While some couples get sent home in 2 days, labors that take 3 days and then wind up with C-sections (more recovery time) or babies in the NICU could mean a hospital stay of 5 or so days in total.)
Noise-cancelling headphones
We had these on our original hospital list, but removed them from the second. That’s because my first labor was “relatively fast” and we hoped my second one would be even faster.
But for inductions, long labors and other situations, there may be a lot of boredom and waiting. The partner/husband may want to listen to music, or use noise-cancelling headphones to fall asleep.
Don’t have a pair? We recommend the Bluetooth Wireless Headphones from Bose.
Tech bag
To keep everything organized, especially under pressure, chaos or situations that change quickly, having a “tech bag” to keep everything all together has helped us a lot during both travel and being at the hospital while I’m giving birth!
A tech bag has places for chargers, cords and wires, along with plugs, batteries and earbud cases. Truly, it’s a place to keep all your tech together, safe, compacted and packable. And with a new baby as an added bit of excitement, staying tidy was never so helpful! Dan has the trusty Peak Design Tech Pouch.
Check out our list of the best tech bags, rated by Dan.
Food
Hospitals usually have cafeterias, but it seems to be common knowledge to bring your own set of favorite snacks.
Water bottle
Bring a reusable water bottle! It could be a straw cup, a thermos-style tumbler, a sport bottle or a Stanley. Whichever you choose, make sure to have a water bottle or drinking vessel so that you don’t have to use disposable drink bottles. And make sure it’s big enough so that you don’t have to go refill it from water fountains all the time!
We recommend some favorites like the CamelBak Tumbler and the CamelBak Thrive Flip Straw Bottle, which we just picked up.
Some fresh snacks
This time around, Dan and I thought a lot about healthy snacks that could come right out of our fruit basket. The key was to have snacks that don’t require refrigeration. Here are a few ideas of healthy snacks to grab on the way out the door for the birthing partner when you go to the hospital:
- Apple
- Banana
- Cherry tomatoes
- Peach or plum
- Pear
- Cucumber (whole)
- Avocado (to eat with a spoon, if you have a way of opening it)
Some non-perishable snacks
A lot of the birth experience is totally a surprise. You might be sitting around waiting for labor to progress, or there may be other delays that just put your birth in limbo.
So… it’s time for snacks! And the hospital may have vending machines, but it’s hard to say if there will be good stuff in them or not. Having some bags of pretzels, cookies, crunchy stuff, granola bars, nuts or dried fruit can be great to have in a pinch.
Just make sure not to rub them in your wife or partner’s face: there’s no eating or drinking for a mom in labor.
A sandwich?
If you won’t be packing tuna (LOL!), having a sort of non-perishable sandwich at the ready can be useful if you, the husband or partner, gets reallllly hungry for a meal in the middle of the night when the hospital cafeteria is not yet open.
Bringing something like a veggie sandwich or other non-dairy non-meat alternative (tofu, anyone?) can be good to have in your hospital bag. Another idea is to pack something like a cheese sandwich with an ice pack, to give it a longer life before it gets eaten.
Toiletries
Simple toiletries are best for the husband or birth partner when you pack bags for the hospital. All you really need is the following because it’s doubtful (I think) that he or they will get to shower.
Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss
I think this one doesn’t need much explaining!
Face wash
It’s not clear on whether all or most hospitals would allow partners to take a shower during the hospital stay, as they’re meant for the patients (the birthing moms). If you as the husband or birth partner would like to freshen up, having face wash can save the day.
Moisturizers of choice
Hospitals can be dry, and the lotions given in the birthing mom’s toiletry bag by the hospital are sometimes lackluster. Bring your favorite from home in a travel size1
Deodorant
If you tend to get stinky (there may be some sweating during the birth if you perspire when stressed), tote along a stick of your finest.
Further tips about going to the hospital for birth
Now that we’ve had a baby at the hospital, and we’re going to do it again, we’ve put together some helpful advice for you to take along! For further reading, check out:
