Breast pump through insurance
Most private health plans must cover a breast pump. Check which pump your plan covers and have it shipped before your due date.
Bringing a Cord Blood Banking Kit to Labor & Delivery: Hospital Triage Checklist
If you plan to bank cord blood privately, you usually need to bring a collection kit from your cord blood bank; hospitals don't keep private kits on hand. Public donation is only available at some hospitals. Talk to your OB or midwife and your hospital before your due date.
Checklist
- Decide early: Compare private banking and public donation in your second trimester, and tell your OB or midwife.
- Order the kit ahead: If banking privately, order the kit several weeks before your due date so it arrives in time for early labor.
- Pack it: Keep the kit in your hospital bag at room temperature, not in a hot or freezing car.
- Tell staff when you arrive: Give the kit to your nurse at check-in and follow the bank's instructions for pickup after delivery.
🌸 Before Your Due Date
Getting Ready to Deliver at your birthing hospital
Things worth sorting out in your third trimester. We don't collect your details; each link goes straight to the provider.
Baby registry
Build one registry for everything, including your hospital bag items. Many registries add a welcome box or completion discount.
Hospital bag essentials
Battery LED candles, a labor gown, a clip-on fan, long phone cable. See our list of what you can bring to Labor & Delivery.
Cord blood: bank or donate
Private banking needs a kit from the bank in your hospital bag. Public donation is free but only offered at some hospitals. Decide by your third trimester.
Find a birth doula
Ask any doula you interview whether they have attended births at your hospital and how it handles doulas and visitors.
Childbirth classes
Many hospitals run their own classes; online courses work if the dates don’t fit. Aim to finish by 36 weeks.
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