Here's everything you need to bring to the hospital if your baby's arriving via scheduled Cesarean.
If you know you're having a C-section to give birth, you may be wondering what to pack in your hospital bag, and how it could be different from other birthing people. After all, parents who deliver via scheduled Cesarean may not need "time passers" like magazines and Netflix (although that's not necessarily a guarantee, as schedule changes can certainly happen); however, their hospital stay is usually longer than someone delivering vaginally—typically 3-5 days versus 1-2 following vaginal delivery—because they're recovering from childbirth and surgery. Non woven disposables
Here's what you need to know when packing your C-section hospital bag.
Before we get into the checklist, let's define what a C-section entails. If you're giving birth via a cesarean section, this means that your baby will be born via surgical cuts that are made through the lower abdomen and uterus. There are all sorts of reasons why people have C-sections, including complications, concerns for the baby, breech positioning, giving birth to multiples, elective decision, and more. C-sections are incredibly common; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 32.1% of all births in the U.S. are C-section births.
If you're having a C-section, you'll want to plan on packing at least two hospital bags: one for the procedure and the other for your postpartum stay. You don't want a bunch of stuff weighing you down as you move from hospital intake to operating room to recovery and then back to your car, explains Marian Malinski, a labor and delivery nurse with more than 40 years of experience and childbirth educator with University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center.
There are several things you might be inclined to bring but simply don't need until you're transferred to recovery. "Everybody wants to be in their own clothes, but the reality is most parents are in the hospital gown for 12 hours after vaginal delivery and maybe a little longer after a C-section," says Malinski.
Then there are things you may need to pack for a C-section specifically, like eyeglasses if you normally wear contact lenses or something to hold your jewelry if it needs to be removed. That's because some anesthesiologists require the removal of contacts before surgery.
Here's a typical C-section hospital bag checklist.
C-section parents may need to be especially mindful of the clothes they'll wear post-op. "You want light clothing that moves freely and is easy to get on," says Malinski. "Nothing with zippers or anything that could ride on the incision."
Having a phone charger with an extra long cord helps too. "Many hospital beds do not have chargers built in and the wall outlet could be a little distance away," says Kameelah Phillips, M.D., a New York City-based OB-GYN. "You want to avoid unnecessary reaching and stretching for your device post op."
Phillips also recommends packing your own towel, bathrobe, and shower shoes. "You don't want to worry about feeling yucky while trying to get clean," she says.
Aim to have your C-section hospital bag packed and in the car by 37 weeks, when you are considered full-term.
"If your C-section is scheduled at 39 weeks but your water breaks earlier, you're going to the hospital right then anyway," says Nina Spears, birth doula, childbirth educator, and founder of the online motherhood resource Baby Chick. And if you end up in the hospital without your bag, don't worry: most facilities will have everything you need, so you'll be well taken care of either way. But it's always nice to be prepared with a few comforts from home, if possible.
American Pregnancy Association. Reasons for a Cesarian Birth.
Surgical pack CDC. Births, Method of Delivery.