Going Into Labor: Getting Ready for the Hospital

Video Transcript

"Alright, so now that you know that you're in labor for sure, it's time to start getting your stuff ready for the hospital. Most women, you've got plenty of time, you're going to have a long labor ahead of you, so you don't have to rush around like a mad woman or person or get the stuff ready. Take your time. Most people already have a bag packed, but you know, go ahead check to make sure you have all the last minute things there. Some things that people forget are their insurance card. Most likely you're already preregistered at the hospital, you've already filled out all the paper work. But, just in case there are any problems, make sure you have your insurance card. Also, if there's any paper work that the hospital gave you or anything that you had to bring at the last minute to sign, make sure you have that cause the last thing you want to have to do is sign more papers and fill out paper work when you're in labor. Other things that you're going to bring is any toiletries that you and your partner are going to need for a couple of days. If you wear glasses or contacts, anything that you need with those. When you get to the hospital, they're going to have you put on their labor gown. It's just a regular hospital gown that's open in the back. If you don't want to wear that, that's definitely fine, you can bring your own nightgown, but the important thing to remember is that, that nightgown might end up in the trash. It might not make it home because you might get fluids on it, you might get blood on it, you might get a lot of different things on it, so please don't bring your favorite nightgown to wear when you are in labor, cause bad things can happen. You might want to wear some socks, to keep your feet warm, cause it can be cold in there sometimes. Also, bring some nightgowns to wear for after the baby is born. Definitely bring clothes for you and the baby to wear home. You're not going to be at your pre-pregnancy size yet, but you're not going to be how big you were before, so just bring something that's loose and easy to wear. You also are going to want snacks and drinks for your partner. You, once a woman becomes in active labor, her digestion shuts down and she's not going to crave food. But, that doesn't mean that her partner's going to, not going to need food, and he's not always going to want to go down to the cafeteria, he's going to want to be there with you for most of the time. So, make sure he brings snacks that are good for him, easy to eat, things that are not have any kind of offensive odor at all. Also, maybe juice and water for him. And, then also as soon as you have the baby, you're going to be hungry and they're going to probably be able to get you some food at the hospital, but have some snacks for you, have some of your favorite stuff so, as soon as you give birth, if you're hungry you can eat something to get your energy up again. Also, if your water has not broken before it's time to go to the hospital, you want to protect your car seat because it's very hard to get amniotic fluid out of things. So, just get a trash bag, you want to fully cover the seat and tuck it into the back so it's secure. And, then get a couple of towels cause nobody wants to sit on a trash bag, you want to make it comfortable for the woman as much as you can. So, get some nice, thick towels. Make sure you have old towels, you have towels that if they get damaged you can throw them away. And, just make it, so you've got some nice padding and this way if the woman's water does break on the way to the hospital, it's going to be absorbed by the towels. It's going to keep your seat dry and you won't have to clean out amniotic fluid. Also, you need to have your car seat installed before you leave to go home from the hospital, so it's really best, if a couple of weeks before you're due, go ahead, get that car seat installed because the hospital can't and won't help you with that. And, the last thing you need to try to be doing is to have a new born and try to install a car seat. It's very difficult to do, even under no stressful circumstances. So, when you're in labor, go ahead, make sure you have all of the stuff that you need for the hospital, so you're not at the last minute panicking about that."