I gave birth this July at Medius Klinik Ostfildern-Ruit to a wonderful baby girl 🙂 In this post I share what I took with me in my hospital bag.

First of all I had a real bag with me not a suitcase and that was a very good decision as there was no space in the room for a suitcase. I’ve borrowed a sport bag from my husband for the occasion 🙂

I actually had two bags with me as I wanted to separate some of the things I took with me: One was filled with the things I wanted with me in the delivery room, the other with the stuff I needed for my 3 nights in the hospital.

First of all I put together a smaller bag with everything I wanted to have with me in the delivery room:

• snacks (I decided on a selection of muesli bars)
• lip balm (as  your lips can get really dry during delivery)
• warm socks (cold feet can apparently prolong the time of the delivery)
• massage oil (your partner is not with you to do nothing, right?! :-D)
• washcloth (so that Moritz can cool my legs from time to time with cold water – something we’ve learned in our prenatal class)
• a spray with thermal water (it’s supposed to get really hot again here in Stuttgart… :-/)

One thing I loved during delivery was my sport bottle. As I was lying the last 30 minutes drinking out of a normal glass was no option so this bottle with the integrated straw was super convenient.

Moreover, I’ve put together a list with tips I got during the prenatal class (breathing techniques for example) that I want to be reminded of  from time to time and things I want the doctors and midwifes to know but which I maybe can’t communicate myself anymore at some point. Moritz had this list ready during delivery.

In my hospital bag itself I’ve put the following:

• 2 breastfeeding nightgowns and 1 pyjama (loose around the waist and with buttons in the front so that I can breastfeed easily)
• 6 breastfeeding tops
• 2 breastfeeding sweaters
• 1 pregnancy trousers for the way home (I assume normal ones won’t fit me anymore)
• 1 breastfeeding dress (one want’s to look nice on the first pictures with the little one, right?! ;-))
• 3 breastfeeding bras
• a big towel (I’ve heard you sometimes just get small ones)
• bathing shoes
• two jumpers for the little one for the way home (two because you never know how big your baby is in the end so I take two sizes with me)
• wash bag with the essentials you need for a few days (tooth brush and paste, hairbrush, shampoo…)
• mobile phone and charger

One word about the huge amount of clothes: I thought I better take some more tops and nightgowns/pyjamas with me as most new moms are sweating a lot at the beginning and thus need to change more often than usually. Better be safe than sorry, right? 🙂

My hospital and I think most hospitals in and around Stuttgart provide the following so you don’t need to take this with you:

• nursing pads
• diapers
• clothes for the baby during your stay
• one-time stretchy underwear that holds the enormous panty liners you will get after you gave birth

An then there are of course some documents you have to take with you:

• Mutterpass (Super important! They will send your partner back home to get it if you haven’t it with you!)
• Insurance card
• ID

If you want to register your baby at the Standesamt directly (some hospitals offer this service in house so make sure to ask for it beforehand!) you need the following documents:

• passports of you and your partner
• birth certificates of you and your partner (must be translated to German)
• marriage certificate or declaration of paternity (must be translated to German)
• maybe registration documents of you and your partner, depending on which residence permit you are

Some more things you want to consider:

• The car seat for the baby should be installed in the car already otherwise you can’t drive home with it.
• Your partner might want to pack his/her own hospital bag as he/she wants to change after delivery as well. And if you get a family room and can stay together for one or more nights, your partner needs a pyjama and a wash bag as well.
• Bring some change so that your partner can buy snacks for you in the hospital.

Happy delivery 🙂

If you have given birth in Stuttgart already and want to share what you took with you in your hospital bag, please do so in the comments! We can all only learn from each other.

For more information about pregnancy in Stuttgart check out the posts I’ve written so far here.

Picture credit title photo: canvas.com