Ep 188: Creating a Comfortable Birth Environment

This episode is more than a "what to pack in your hospital bag".  We dive into the must-have essentials for your hospital birth bag, but we also talk about what homebirth items you might want to have on hand, that you may not already have. From comfort items to crucial documents, we cover everything you need to ensure a smooth and stress-free hospital birth, but we also chat about the potential for an extended stay at the hospital and what you might want with you.  Tune in to discover tips and tricks that will make your hospital stay or your homebirth more comfortable and organized. Don't miss out on this essential guide for expecting parents!

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• 15:21 (Cont.) Ep 188: Creating a Comfortable Birth Environment

Transcript

Dr. Shannon (00:02.212)
you are listening to the Aligned Birth podcast. Welcome to our birth podcast. I'm Dr. Shannon. I'm one of the hosts. Dula Rachel here and she is one of the hosts as well. So you got both of us here today talking about birth bags and beyond. Talking about packing your...

birth bag. know personally I like to have checklists of things like if I'm going on vacation what are the things I need to bring and that's easy when you've gone on vacation before you've done these things but if you've not given birth before you might be like what do I even need to pack in my bag? So this is gonna be we've done this topic before but we're gonna add some things to it so it's kind of birth bags for hospital birth.

What could you need for a home birth? You're not necessarily packing a bag, but what are the things that you're gonna want at your home that you might want to have with your birth? Then a bit of if there's maybe hospital transfer, but what if you also have an extended stay at the hospital? Because we've gotten, we've talked about this before, we've had moms ask these questions and submit this as a topic. So, and some comfort items, things to bring to the birth space.

to make it feel like home. So that is where our Birth Bags and Beyond Preparing for Every Birth experience comes into play today. Hi Rachel!

Rachael Hutchins (01:26.246)
Hi Dr. Shannon, excited for this conversation. It feels like one that is prevalent, like it's in all the like to-dos when you're planning for, you know, when you're pregnant, it's like if you had a checklist and you found it online, you know, packing your hospital bag is always on there. And it feels like everyone wants to know, especially if it's their first time, what should I have in this bag? So we wanted to share like a little bit of a, an expanded version of our

Dr. Shannon (01:42.586)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (01:54.822)
previous conversation and really talk about the different types of bags you could have prepared for your birth and what we think is most helpful to have in them to support, you know, that birth cave experience to make sure you're set up to have, you know, the best birth experience as, you know, as possible. So definitely excited to share these tips and share a little bit more than we have before.

Dr. Shannon (02:19.948)
I know you mentioned birth cave too. And so I want to put one thing in here as far as I think this is an important topic. It's just it's kind of the same thing. I think the two big things is like creating a birth plan and what to pack in your hospital bag. I feel like those are two really big like planning projects that if you've not done this before, it could be overwhelming. But when you mentioned birth cave, like that's the importance that's on this is not just like I really want to have my comfy robe like it's what are the things

Rachael Hutchins (02:40.486)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (02:49.124)
that are going to, if you are having a hospital birth that are going to make you feel safe and help you in the birth space. When you look at it like that, that's even more important. So it's not, yes, it's the comfort items and things like that, but this is important because this having certain things, maybe twinkle lights is like the difference for you. And like, I felt more at ease and more calm. You don't know. So, or smells or things like that. So I do want to put like, it is important. It's not just like a.

list. know, it's I think if you put some time and energy into it, it can be really helpful. So yeah, Birth Cave.

Rachael Hutchins (03:23.162)
Yeah, we want you to think about about your birth cave, your optimal birth cave and really bringing the comforts of home into the birth space and trying to visualize that and and really get like what makes you feel like you said, relaxed, safe, comfortable at ease. Because if you've not given birth before and you're planning on a hospital birth, like the hospital is pretty sterile, like

you know, so what can you do to lighten it up or warm it up or again, make it more homey. There are some like other things we're going to share that are, you know, not necessarily all about the birth cave because there are some just like basic logistical stuff we want you to be, you know, prepared for to pack in your bag. But everything with the undertone of supporting the birth environment in a way that you feel private supported.

Dr. Shannon (03:51.728)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (03:56.175)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (04:06.669)
Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (04:20.144)
comfortable, relaxed, safe.

Dr. Shannon (04:22.71)
Exactly. Yeah, I know not every item on here is like, this makes me feel comfy and cozy because there's going to be like for instance, there's going be important documents that you need to have have with you. So it doesn't really set the tone for the cave. However, it can ease your mind knowing that you have insurance cards, your ID, important documents like that. So yeah, we'll kick off our list with the non birth cavey things. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (04:32.772)
Right.

Rachael Hutchins (04:47.684)
Yeah, not as exciting, but important are the important documents. So I like to say make a copy of your ID front and back and your insurance card front and back and put that in your hospital bag or your go bag if you're doing a home birth because if you're in a hurry, you might like forget your purse or something and in your purse or those things or are you

Dr. Shannon (05:15.406)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (05:18.254)
If you're deep in labor, your husband's needing to find your ID and insurance card. Where is it? Does he know? I don't know. So having the copies on hand can make it really easy as you're transitioning into triage and trying to get admitted to the hospital. So that's my tip is to make a copy. Go ahead and slide that in your bag. And of course, if you remember your actual ID and insurance card, great. But having the copy is just a little bit of an insurance plan. Unintended.

Dr. Shannon (05:45.16)
Mm-hmm. I love it. Totally intended. Yes, I like the copies. Your birth plan is another good one to have. I think I remember bringing mine with me. It can be a good reminder to yourself of what you've said you wanted. But then having it written out is also good in the aspect of

if you are in the throes of labor and it's maybe not optimal to communicate or you're just not in that zone and you're trying to get into like the birth brain having that written out. So it's like let's refer to what the birth plan was that can be helpful too depending upon who's in the room as well.

Rachael Hutchins (06:32.582)
Yep, birth plan, birth plan is not necessarily like it has to go a certain way or you're not having a good birth. So let's just always be clear when we're talking about birth plans that it is a tool primarily once you're in the birth space, it is a communication tool. Exactly what you said. If you are, and hopefully you are deep in labor land and you stay in there. So when you are deep in labor, your primitive brain is more in front and more active.

Dr. Shannon (06:40.901)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (06:54.255)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (07:02.18)
and your thinking brain ideally is more dim. Meaning if you're having to answer questions, find things in your bag, know, talk about what you want for your birth, that takes you out of that primitive brain and puts you into thinking brain. And so we really want to reduce every like point of resistance that might take you out of labor land or make it harder for you to get there. So having your birth plan, multiple copies and in a

Dr. Shannon (07:05.23)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (07:24.612)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (07:31.702)
designated place that whoever's supporting you knows where it's at. Another great tip is for for your primary support person, if it's your spouse or a loved one, that they have seen the birth plan, that they know your preferences well and so that they can advocate for you as you're going through the admittance process, getting through the hospital, especially if you're deep in labor or to help you stay deep in labor. Like one of our tips is like get in there through triage like

Dr. Shannon (07:44.452)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (07:57.914)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (08:01.028)
you know, eye mask, earbuds, and like let your partner do the communicating as much as they can so that you can continue your journey through labor without disruption and triage and admitting to the hospital can create disruption, And so really being clear with your partner about the birth plan so that they're not seeing it for the first time in the birth space, right? And another great tip for the birth plan is that the partner is on board with communicating.

Dr. Shannon (08:13.328)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (08:27.94)
with kind of each point of contact at the hospital, your nurse, your midwife, your OB, like kind of taking them to the side and being like, here's our birth plan. We appreciate your time and like respect of our wishes. Here's what we really, well, here's what's really important to us. I'd like to work together as a team, like go line by line over that sucker so that they don't just breeze through it and say, okay, yeah, we read your birth plan. Like that's an opportunity for them to, for you to be sure that they are getting that communication. So sidebar on the birth plan.

Dr. Shannon (08:56.236)
Mm-hmm sidebar on the birth plan. He said labor land and all I could think of was like candy land and it's like this little game and then my brain went to like shoots and ladders and like crying I don't know so I like labor land. That was really fun Yeah, so that kind of those aspects of important documents using those as communication tools anything else that maybe you have gotten from the hospital or You've already filled out for the hospital like just having all of that ready to go

So, and I think the big thing is, you know, the copies, copies of copies is good. Next is a little bit more like, I guess, going into that little birth cave area is some of the clothing and items that you want. So, loose fitting gown or robe. Yes, the hospital is gonna have, you know, gowns for you to wear. I mean, they may not be the most comfortable thing. So, I remember I had

Rachael Hutchins (09:26.448)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Dr. Shannon (09:55.716)
I still have this robe and I love this robe. And I always think of Rachel from birthing way midwifery because she always does these videos. She always has this wonderful robe on and it's like her birth. I don't know if it's her birth robe, but it's like, I just love her and we've had her on the show and it's like home. I still remember whenever I put my robe on, I still have it. And I'm always like, I was having my baby with this robe on. Like, I don't know, it just takes you back. So it's kind of fun.

And I went out and bought it new. So was also like, this is exciting. This is, I mean, it's from Target. It's nothing fancy, but that also put like a fun spin on, okay, either something that brings you comfort that you've already had or something exciting that you're adding in and like, I can't wait to walk around the hospital in this. While in labor, that's what I was thinking of. So I don't know, the robe was a really big one for me. I don't know, my gray robe.

Rachael Hutchins (10:45.902)
Yeah, so we recommend a robe because it's easy, like, because you might go through hot, flat, hot, flat, hot, cold flashes where a robe is like on off. It's pretty easy. And then you can have like a light loose fitting gown under it and then add the robe for cozy comfort. Cold, you know, you need to get warm and then you can quickly. Typically colder, but you might feel hot at times, so you want to shed that gown.

Dr. Shannon (10:59.652)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (11:06.576)
Because the hospitals are typically colder, you know, hot.

Rachael Hutchins (11:13.734)
and then be able to put it back on and you can be like naked under the gown or wear, like I said, like a light loose fitting gown. So. The this might sound extreme to some, but the hospital gown is truly the first intervention that you face at the hospital. It is taking you out of yourself and putting you into hospital mode, right? Like all of a sudden you're a patient, right? You are not like.

Dr. Shannon (11:31.278)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (11:38.555)
Mm-hmm

Rachael Hutchins (11:42.896)
There's nothing wrong with you. You're not seeking medical care because something is wrong. So let's let's kind of flip the script, reframe like that's the reason I encourage leaning into bringing your own like laboring stuff like clothes, clothing wise, because no shame on wearing the hospital gown. Some people like it because they're like, I don't want to get my stuff dirty. It's not that do what you want to do. But when you when I heard that the first time I was like,

Dr. Shannon (11:58.618)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (12:04.472)
Nah. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (12:11.268)
Yeah, like I'm having like light I'm like, wow. Yeah Uh-huh. That makes total sense

Rachael Hutchins (12:14.542)
Like, okay, so how do I stay in myself? How do I stay feeling? And some people see it as like really not a big deal, but then they don't really realize how it could impact and change their energy as they're going through this process. And it's a simple, it's a simple, you're not required to wear the hospital gown. I got both of mine from Target because they make the softest stuff and it's not crazy expensive.

Dr. Shannon (12:23.532)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Take you out of labor land. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (12:41.614)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (12:43.128)
So I wasn't tied to it. And to date, my favorite, one of my favorite nightgowns is the one I labored in with Marshall and got from Target, you know. so, you know, that's just some tips. And then I like to say, bring one for labor and one for postpartum. So some people have like their one. And then in labor, you know, labor, there's fluids, there's blood, there's

Dr. Shannon (12:46.021)
Yes.

Dr. Shannon (12:52.729)
huh.

Dr. Shannon (12:57.081)
Yes.

Dr. Shannon (13:02.842)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (13:09.968)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (13:11.27)
There's all kinds of things that could happen. So you're not gonna have time to like wash it and wear it for postpartum. So have one that you reserve for once you, for after you've given birth.

Dr. Shannon (13:22.128)
Yeah, my mom had given me this like, looked like something from the little house on the prairie. was like this giant like, moomoo thing. And it was so soft and it had the buttons at the top. But it was the best thing ever because it was like, I had my babies in like winter, so it was warm. And it was soft. And then I could nurse in it because I didn't have to like take it off because it had the buttons. And then it wasn't the same robe as in, yeah, because I remember when my water broke everywhere. And I was like, my.

Rachael Hutchins (13:29.189)
Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (13:36.11)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (13:49.282)
So that's a good rule of thumb is to have both. And yeah, embrace that little house in the prairie vibe if you want. I love that thing. My husband on the other hand was like, whoa, what is that? This is not concerned you. I don't know if I have any. That's the other thing, take lots of pictures. Okay, so other things too, like if you, to help promote,

Rachael Hutchins (13:56.428)
Yeah, because really like you don't want restrictive clothing. you know, yeah, that's awesome.

I want to see pictures. I demand pictures.

Rachael Hutchins (14:13.06)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (14:19.724)
and ease into breastfeeding if that's if nursing if that is something that you are wanting to do and hoping to do. Having items that make that comfortable. you know, nursing tank tops. I'm gonna I'm gonna say like no underwire stuff going on. Like this is like camis. This is like you got to contain the girls, but like we don't need wires. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (14:36.784)
Full stop. Yeah. Soft.

Rachael Hutchins (14:43.728)
to restrict. You don't know restricting.

Dr. Shannon (14:45.848)
you want to like softly handle them. anything in that realm, nursing pads, if you want those as well to, because that's hard to, it's just, it's a very, you don't know how the milk is going to come in, when it's going to come in, how much milk you're going to have, like there's lots of little things there. So just kind of having tools and there's going to be stuff.

Rachael Hutchins (14:49.168)
Hahaha.

Dr. Shannon (15:07.758)
Also too, yes, there are things at the hospital. Like it's not like you're gonna be on a deserted island and it's like, have to bring all of these things and I don't know what's gonna happen. Like, you know, no stress with that.

Rachael Hutchins (15:10.409)
for sure.

Rachael Hutchins (15:15.076)
Now we actually say, we tell people you can show up to the hospital with nothing and have what you need to navigate to get through birth and postpartum, right? They cover all the basic stuff. Even if you don't have a toothbrush and toothpaste, they're going to get that for you. Like it really is. So to not add stress, but to just think about like, how can you enhance your experience? I think.

Dr. Shannon (15:20.293)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (15:23.684)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (15:31.706)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (15:40.354)
Mm-hmm, exactly. Yeah, so the nursing nursing ones and then Things to go home in Again, not restrictive do not bring like jeans and pants to go home in No, no, no, no, no

Rachael Hutchins (15:49.562)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (15:55.278)
or pre-baby clothes, pre-pregnancy clothes. Like bring like whatever you were wearing in the five to six month mark is usually a good gauge of comfort and size and stay in the maternity clothes. Just have something comfortable to go home in and of course for you and for baby.

Dr. Shannon (16:03.155)
huh.

Dr. Shannon (16:10.286)
Yes, yes, embrace them.

Dr. Shannon (16:18.04)
Yep. I don't know if it's on here somewhere, but I did have, I feel like I had like socks, slippers or something like that. Something with grippers on the feet. I liked that though. So I remember that, I think.

Rachael Hutchins (16:34.104)
Yeah, the hospital usually provides grippy stocks.

Dr. Shannon (16:39.076)
They were sparkly. I think I had, that was also fun too. They were like from Target and they were sparkly slippers. I don't know. So yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (16:47.312)
That's cute. No, so yeah, mean, warm socks for your feet. And if you want like a slipper or like a slide, I see a lot of people do the slides to cause like some people don't want to walk around barefoot in the hospital. And that's understandable. So a sock that you don't necessarily care as much about and or a slipper or a slide that's comfortable. That's a great, great ad.

Dr. Shannon (16:51.578)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (16:57.796)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (17:03.97)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (17:11.374)
Yeah, easy to be cleaned. Okay, we touched a little bit on toiletries. Yes, they're going to have things there, but it's just like packing for a trip if you would like to have your things. Think about that. I think the big thing for me when I look at like as far as like toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoos, things like that, I tend to typically have longer hair and so like hair ties. I have them everywhere, but there's also the instance of

Rachael Hutchins (17:22.128)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (17:40.016)
They're also not there when you need them. I don't know. They're everywhere and then they're nowhere. So I would have a like a little bag of those because you might just want to get that like up and out of your face clip, something like that.

Rachael Hutchins (17:42.33)
course.

That's it.

Rachael Hutchins (17:49.168)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (17:55.652)
Yeah, however you like to do your hair when it to get it out of the way, bring those things. Some people like the clips or bobby pins or hair ties, depending on the length and style of your hair. Definitely have options there and back up and don't plan on grabbing those last minute. Have those packed and ready to go so that when you're there and like packing all this stuff, like get a travel toothbrush, toothpaste, like go to the Walmart or Target travel section and grab grab travel sizes of the things you like in these categories.

Dr. Shannon (18:00.175)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (18:04.4)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (18:13.956)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (18:24.41)
so that it can be packed and like done versus you trying to pack it in the moment or.

Dr. Shannon (18:24.57)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (18:29.808)
In your yeah, or yeah trying to pack your own things Yeah, and then you just save them and use them for whenever you go on vacation again Like it's not like it's you know useless so but have them They're what? Yeah, look a lot something mm-hmm

Rachael Hutchins (18:39.451)
Yes.

Ooh lip balm. I'm going to add a Tola tree lip balm or chapstick or I'm like a Burt's Bees. Let's see. we're not showing video, but you know, Burt's Burt's Bees lip balm. That's why chapstick is a brand lip balm. Anyways, I live and die. Like, have you seen the memes where it's like, or the reels where it's like, I got my car lip balm. I have my bathroom lip balm. I have my desk lip balm. There's one in the kitchen.

Dr. Shannon (19:03.205)
You

Dr. Shannon (19:09.135)
Yes.

Rachael Hutchins (19:12.486)
Do I have them anywhere else? Purse? In all my, like if I have different bags I carry, like they all have one, so I'm not worried about grabbing a bag that doesn't have it.

Dr. Shannon (19:13.672)
That is my 14 year old child as well. It is hilarious. Yeah. It's everywhere.

Dr. Shannon (19:23.916)
I know. I was even packing this morning for something and I was like, I don't need to take my lip balm because I already got the other one over here. So I'll have one. No.

Rachael Hutchins (19:32.536)
So, and you mouth breathe a lot as you get deeper in labor sometimes so the lips can get dry. So really making sure you can keep those moisturized.

Dr. Shannon (19:36.13)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. I didn't think about that.

Dr. Shannon (19:42.32)
Yes, I love it. Good addition. There's going to be probably electronics that you're going to want to have with you. A phone would be the big one. having that like extra charger, you if you've got one in the car already, you're bringing that, bringing the little cube or whatever that you need to kind of plug into the wall, just keeping those. I have like a longer charger that's always in my car.

Rachael Hutchins (19:51.674)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (20:11.224)
And so that's.

Rachael Hutchins (20:11.64)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, have one that you designate for the birth bag so that you don't end up there without it and not trying to grab it from your nightstand or your car like have it already packed.

Dr. Shannon (20:16.054)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (20:21.41)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, because again you will always use that one again. You can't have too many phone chargers. A camera or a GoPro and you know you got your phone and you may not I think this is one where you may not think that you want that before birth, but I say go ahead and pack it because

Rachael Hutchins (20:25.552)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (20:47.717)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (20:51.052)
you just might change your mind in that birth space. do, I look back and I'm like, man, I wish we did have like video and more pictures. But also I think that was the time, I think I gave birth before like, so much to pictures, dear God, I don't know. It just felt like that was like extra. So yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (20:53.019)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (21:10.957)
No.

Everett's birth was take Everett who's 11 his was with a point they call them point and shoots my husband It was his little point and shoot we have took like the SD card It's like a separate, you know, and even if the even if the phones maybe were taking Pictures it just wasn't the way they are now you can get by most people can get by with it getting really amazing pictures on their phone So it is funny to think about having a separate camera. However, if you are more of the like photographer junkie

Dr. Shannon (21:20.803)
Yeah.

Yes!

Dr. Shannon (21:32.386)
No. No. It'll be fine now.

Dr. Shannon (21:44.378)
Bring it with you.

Rachael Hutchins (21:44.42)
bring your special camera if you have one because you why not and then video i love the gopro idea because it's like you can kind of strap it on you or your husband or you know to get like video of the whole thing and you can always like cut it down and and make a special video or only keep the parts you really like and not you know if there are

Dr. Shannon (21:55.439)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (22:00.484)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (22:05.206)
Mm-hmm. I would I would err on the side of go ahead and capture it because you can't get it back. Yeah

Rachael Hutchins (22:08.934)
Because you can't take it back. You can't get it back. I'm a big, this is, we have this conversation a lot with our clients because we'll, we always ask them like, do you want us to like grab your phone or your camera and take pictures for you? And I almost always the first reaction is like, no, why do I, why do I want to, why do I want to see that? And then we try and be like, well, most of the time people are really glad they have it. And you can always like choose not to keep like,

Dr. Shannon (22:24.717)
yeah, that was me. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (22:32.889)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (22:35.834)
file it away somewhere and never look at it if you don't want, but we can't go back and get it, redo it once it's done. So.

Dr. Shannon (22:40.366)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We did a whole episode. So we had Megan Hall on who's a doula and photographer and videographer and she we did I did an interview with them She had a client on talking about the importance of that and it was it's a beautiful birth story but I think that just highlights I would Dig deep and say okay. Let's let's go ahead and capture some of that you you might surprise yourself and I think you might be a little bit thankful so

Rachael Hutchins (22:47.492)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (23:00.698)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (23:09.456)
You'll be glad. Most people are glad because they get and moments are captured. Like I had someone, my dear friend. she's also a photographer, attend my second birth, which was at home. And she took pictures of the whole thing, snagged some video and it, it captured things I didn't even know were happening. Right? Like, and, and when you're in it and you're experiencing it, you're just so, you're so deep in it that you can't.

Dr. Shannon (23:10.306)
You will. Yeah. I wish I had it.

Dr. Shannon (23:23.95)
Hmm.

Dr. Shannon (23:28.782)
You didn't

Rachael Hutchins (23:37.552)
So even watching myself and the emotions that I had that I didn't even really know I was experiencing, you don't get unless you try, unless you capture it. So like, if you can swing having someone come do it for you or a designated loved one, let's say you really want your mom to be in the first space with you and you want to give her something to do, right? Like she can be in charge of capturing photo or video or if you want your sister to be there or something like that, it's a great thing. It's a great...

Dr. Shannon (23:37.614)
You're in laborland, yeah.

Ugh, I love it.

Dr. Shannon (23:52.944)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (23:59.333)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (24:03.597)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (24:07.43)
kind of task to give someone so that they are like, okay, I'm going to do this my job. And then they focus on that and then you get wonderful videos out of it or pictures.

Dr. Shannon (24:15.018)
Yes. So I would, yeah, we would err on the side of capturing those moments. Another aspect of like in the electronic worlds of things when you're looking at packing your birth bag, a speaker, like an easy, small little Bluetooth speaker, something along those lines. If you do want music, I guess, or headphones too, or something to help you.

Rachael Hutchins (24:20.195)
Yeah, absolutely.

Rachael Hutchins (24:34.608)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (24:42.19)
say both Bluetooth speaker, yeah Bluetooth speaker and headphones so like wireless air pods or wired whatever I like the wireless because then you're not restricted so definitely worth bringing even if you don't use because it's kind of like a tool like the music can be a great reset and energy shift sometimes you want to like get moving and get going and lift that energy so you can play like

Dr. Shannon (24:43.256)
Yeah, like get into labor land.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (24:56.708)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (25:00.41)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (25:11.138)
upbeat music or you want to be like relaxed and chill you can play more like spa or yoga or meditation type music if you're doing like any kind of hypno babies or tracks you can have those going and some people like hearing them on a speaker and some people really like that like put it in my ear close my eyes like zone out and i think both are useful at different times so i would think about if you're able to bring both

Dr. Shannon (25:20.558)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (25:31.055)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. No, I like that. That's perfect. Yep. Yeah, did you have anything else?

Rachael Hutchins (25:37.26)
Yeah. Yeah. And I think, yeah, the other thing I think is worth considering, especially if you're maybe looking at maybe an induction or like a longer stay is a device for streaming. So whatever that is for you, if it's a laptop or a iPad or Roku or whatever, bring something to like watch your, what your favorite shows and movies. Cause whatever's on the hospital TV isn't always maybe what you want to watch.

Dr. Shannon (25:49.38)
Dr. Shannon (26:06.028)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (26:06.734)
Or you can bring a Roku. A lot of the hospital TVs are up to date and you can just pop that into the hospital TV. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (26:11.278)
That's so crazy. Because obviously that was not happening when I was getting ready. I'm like, that's so cool. Yeah. I would take advantage of that.

Rachael Hutchins (26:16.65)
No, and there's more than the Roku now. There's, mean, Amazon has a stick. I'm sure Apple has a stick, like wherever, and then there you go. So if you, it can be a distraction. So there's all kinds of ways to support the birth, the flow of birth. And sometimes you need a distraction and that's like watching a show or something that makes you laugh, like friends or, you know.

Dr. Shannon (26:35.236)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (26:39.6)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (26:40.814)
whatever your show is that you enjoy that's kind of gets you just like focused on something for a period of time it can be nice so something to consider.

Dr. Shannon (26:47.683)
Mm-hmm Yeah, I forgot about that one. No, that's really really good. I know. and if you have access to that now Take advantage of it back in the old days. You had to watch what was on the TV. I remember the TV. I don't remember any of that. Let's see food foods is the next thing snacks and drinks

Rachael Hutchins (26:56.396)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (27:09.573)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (27:13.494)
Is this, are we talking about for birth? Well, I guess I was thinking too like food for your support person as well too. I didn't know if we were talking about that now too, but that's something to consider. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (27:18.256)
Yeah, for birth.

It's both.

Rachael Hutchins (27:24.9)
Mm-hmm. That's...

So this is food for everybody, food for you, food for your partner, food for postpartum, like pack snacks.

Dr. Shannon (27:35.992)
Yeah, everything's there. Yeah, pack snacks because you know, you're not the hospital stuff's not going to be it's there. So yes, it's not like again, like you're on a deserted island. Okay, you will be fine if you don't but if there's certain things that you want and there's certain things you like or if you have dietary restrictions or something like that, obviously, then you're used to packing things. So just pack some foods.

Rachael Hutchins (27:43.578)
Do you have food? Yes. Right.

Rachael Hutchins (27:51.056)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (27:57.322)
And I think too thinking easily digestible and highly nutritious, like a lot of times in the birth setting, they'll offer you like a ginger ale, cranberry, apple juice, a popsicle and like Ritz crackers or Graham crackers or saltines. Right? Like that's what's being offered to you when you're in labor. So what I want you to think about is what is going to, I'm, you're running a marathon or you're, you're doing a huge hike or you're going off for the day.

Dr. Shannon (28:02.393)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (28:14.896)
Our ice chips. I like, really? This is all we've got? Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (28:24.708)
Mm-hmm. This is endurance. Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (28:28.482)
Endurance so what can you put in your body? That's kind of easy like You know, it's not gonna take you a lot to chew Yeah, exactly. We joke like like during pregnancy a handful of like almonds and cashews is a great snack during labor It is not Right a handful of nuts is like it's hard. So think like nut butter so like I love like the the packets of you can get almond butter cashew butter

Dr. Shannon (28:35.277)
It's not a steak.

Dr. Shannon (28:45.904)
Yeah that's a lot to...

Dr. Shannon (28:55.991)
yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (28:57.37)
peanut butter like in the packet. So it's something that you can pack and ahead of time and it doesn't go bad. It doesn't need to be refrigerated. So I think granola bars are great if they're like softer and easier to chew. Dried fruit is great. Again, it doesn't need refrigeration and you're still getting, you know, nutrients from dried fruit. Or I like the like baby food pouches that are like applesauce pouches or yogurt pouches.

Dr. Shannon (29:06.458)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (29:12.164)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (29:24.921)
Hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (29:27.044)
you where it's you're getting fruit or protein but in a pouch. There's these wellness protein smoothie pouches that I buy for myself. I bought them for my kids.

Dr. Shannon (29:32.271)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (29:39.352)
Is it from Costco? I've seen those at Costco. Well, something like that, but it's got protein in it too. I just got that for the kids too.

Rachael Hutchins (29:44.42)
Yeah, it's like 10 or 12 grams of protein. It's all like fruit and protein and like, it's great. So thinking about again, how it's going to fuel your body, but it's easy to get in, easy to pack, shelf stable, all that stuff. And then bone broth. Again, that's something else you can buy that's shelf stable. You can buy them in individual servings too, in small servings at the grocery store where they have like screw lids on them.

Dr. Shannon (29:51.737)
Mm-hmm.

Easy.

Dr. Shannon (30:02.883)
Hmm.

Dr. Shannon (30:09.859)
Hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (30:14.35)
So bone broth is really wonderful during labor because it requires no chewing, has protein and it has lots of nutrients in it that it's going to support you during labor so that you don't fizzle out too soon. And none of that's being offered easily accessible in the hospital setting.

Dr. Shannon (30:29.55)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-mm. Mm-mm. No. And as we're talking about this, you know, I kind of, I'm coming from a space too where I didn't really pack any of these things. Like, I'll be honest. I just didn't know. I didn't look or anything. So all I remember is really like the robe and the slippers and then I had clothes.

I didn't bring any food. remember eating, but that's, we did a whole episode on that, like eating and drinking during labor. So sidebar. Yeah, I would bring the things because you may not be offered it as much and you'll get ice chips and you'll be like, that's great. How am I supposed to endure this?

Rachael Hutchins (30:57.702)
You

Rachael Hutchins (31:04.674)
No, you won't. And it is now evidence-based to eat and drink freely and as you desire during labor even with an epidural, even though that's not what they will tell you. That's why we're doing this. And then the other thing we think is really important for labor is electrolytes. And you can get that through coconut water. So again, you can buy that ahead of time, bring in the small, you know, bring in a

Dr. Shannon (31:13.314)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, exactly. So that's why we're doing this. That's why we're talking about this. Mm-hmm. Exactly.

Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (31:33.356)
few of the small ones with the screw on lid or the electrolyte packets which are super easy to pack. Same.

Dr. Shannon (31:37.04)
Our family is huge on those packets. I am not, I just like plain old water. Like that's just me. But the family is like, they're everywhere. They're just, nobody knows how to throw them away, but these packets are just everywhere. Maybe that's why I didn't think it on my jokes. No, but they're easy because then you, it's easy to pack. Get your water bottle and then you'll obviously have water at the hospital if you need to fill it up and then you can put your own things in it. So.

Rachael Hutchins (31:43.5)
I love my electrolyte water.

Rachael Hutchins (31:52.941)
That's funny.

Rachael Hutchins (32:06.084)
Yeah, cause your body, like you're working hard in labor. Even if you have an epidural, your uterus is working. It's a muscle. It needs replenishment. so electrolytes are going to help sustain your muscles to do what they need to do.

Dr. Shannon (32:06.382)
I think that's easy peasy.

Dr. Shannon (32:13.712)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (32:18.136)
I didn't think, I wish I had thought of, I'm careful with my word choice because you know, shoulda, coulda, woulda. But no, it's not, but it's like, I, I do a very good job of that. It's the, I'm like, that would have been good. Like, or thinking about birth as this like, it's, yes, it's exciting, but this thing that we're like training for, right? And so it's knowing you've got to support yourself.

Rachael Hutchins (32:24.74)
Yeah, don't shit on yourself, Shannon.

Dr. Shannon (32:47.184)
I guess I'm coming from that runner, that athlete aspect and things. I'm like, man, why did I not think of making sure I had the water that I wanted or the electrolytes or things that I would use on a long run anyways? I don't think of it like that. no, definitely not. So yeah, so here we are.

Rachael Hutchins (32:49.828)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (32:59.384)
We probably hadn't learned about birth in that same parallel. Yeah, here we are sharing what we know, what we've learned.

Dr. Shannon (33:07.232)
Snacks and drinks. know. Okay things for baby. This is always fun Because it's like the sizing of baby clothes I would say I think I had preemie things just in case and I have

Rachael Hutchins (33:13.732)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (33:27.483)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (33:30.032)
you know, newborn things. And then I had like a bigger size thing. Like I literally, I remember I had just like three different things. I was like, what's going to fit? It's going to be tough. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (33:40.198)
Yep, so having a couple outfits in each of those categories is a good idea. And then let's say you get to like 36 weeks, could probably, or 37 weeks, you could probably take those preemie clothes out of your birth bag. If you get to 41 weeks, you can probably take the newborn stuff.

Dr. Shannon (33:54.98)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (34:02.744)
And that's what I don't think I knew. was like, why is it not fitting in the newborn stuff? I'm like, who sized these babies? Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (34:04.44)
Yeah, yeah, because my second did not fit in newborn stuff. He was straight into zero to three. So, you know, that's. But then you don't to lug it all. If you make, you know, incrementally, as you go along, you can kind of know that your baby is probably going to be in certain sizes and then lighten your load. And then if you do go into early labor, your bag is ready for the preemie baby if needed. So that's a great idea.

Dr. Shannon (34:16.26)
Yeah, if you get to those points.

Dr. Shannon (34:27.332)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (34:31.356)
One, I think one thing, and this is also too like, this goes in line, so the next one is having your car seat installed. I say go get it installed, you can do that at the fire station. Not every fire station does it. Even though my husband was a firefighter, we took it to the different fire station in his...

Rachael Hutchins (34:40.41)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (34:47.416)
You gotta find one, you can look it up online.

Dr. Shannon (34:49.398)
Uh-huh, and there's car seat text and everything. It's great. I highly recommend it and know the ins and outs and how Let them teach you how to do it You can have the base so the base stays in each car or whatever and then you just throw the car seat in there It's it's amazing. It's wonderful, but I think it's very very important to know Like the safety factors of it. So I would definitely sometimes there's newborn that's included in newborn classes Sometimes it's not just that is something I think that needs yeah have that done early ahead of time and

Rachael Hutchins (35:14.182)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (35:18.262)
In that mindset of what's safe for baby is like minimal amount of clothes and then babies in the car or in their infant carrier, they're strapped in appropriately. That's also with the car seat training. Where's the chest strap supposed to be? Not up real high, somewhat at the chest. And then if it's winter, cover baby in blankets. You don't want big jackets on the baby in the car seat. I do want to say.

Rachael Hutchins (35:25.84)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (35:34.81)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (35:43.45)
Mm-hmm.

Correct. Yep.

Dr. Shannon (35:47.96)
that and sometimes new parents may not know that because you're you're are worried they can't regulate their temperature you freak out they're gonna be cold it's piled the blankets on rather than like a big old coat around the car scene

Rachael Hutchins (35:56.686)
Yep, wrap them around the car seat. And definitely recommend taking cars. I mean, you can do car seat safety class. It's usually pretty short and sweet or a lot of newborn education classes. Like know Hannah's newborn education covers car seat safety. It's a thing and it's worth spending a little bit of time on learning so that you're if you're, know, you're going to be using a car seat a lot, then it's good to know kind of the proper ways to do it. Yep. And that's how you bring your baby home from the hospital. So you got to have that.

Dr. Shannon (36:11.525)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (36:20.996)
Yep, exactly.

Dr. Shannon (36:26.232)
Yeah. No. Which is a good thing. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (36:26.554)
They won't let you leave without a car seat. I mean, I guess I'll say you can do whatever you want. They can't not not let you leave, but it's highly encouraged to have a car seat. Yeah, yeah. And then if you know, like, for baby, like baths, diapering, lotions, if you want to use your own stuff because you're like, I really want to make sure they're not exposed to any of the

Dr. Shannon (36:34.64)
Right. It's really good to have a seat. I know.

Rachael Hutchins (36:53.946)
chemicals that are in like what's what the hospital provides. They use I guess all hospitals are different, but the ones around here all big Johnson and folk and I mean there's nothing like most people these days aren't even bathing their baby before they leave the hospital. So you don't have if you're not bathing your baby, you don't need to worry about bringing soap. But if you're like I just in case my baby needs a bath, I want to use my soap. Those are the other things you could add for babies needs is to pack your own little small if you can bath soap.

Dr. Shannon (37:09.476)
That's what I was going to say, yeah.

Dr. Shannon (37:18.458)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (37:22.832)
body lotion, booty cream, diapers, nipple cream for you, silverware cups for you, like things like in that regard if you want your own again do you need them? No they're gonna have all of that stuff but if you have preferences over what's going on your baby or you in that way you want to bring your own items.

Dr. Shannon (37:45.592)
Yep. Yep, yep, All right. So continuing on our packing for the hospital birth list, there are some items that maybe could be considered in other areas in this list, but this is more of like the, how can you create that birth cave? And yes, we have like a whole episode devoted to...

to that and the importance of it and the whys and other things, but wanting to hit home some things that you may not think of. I think part of me was like, I didn't know what I could or could not bring in the hospital. So that's where I think I was like, I don't think I can bring these things. So I didn't even consider them or ask. So, you a little bit of what you don't know what you don't know, but now you're listening to this and you know, you can bring things. It's not like, you know, crazy things. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (38:13.574)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (38:24.336)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (38:30.925)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (38:38.564)
Yeah, there are very few things you can't bring that you would want to.

Dr. Shannon (38:41.658)
but things to make you comfortable. So blanket and pillow, we kind of talked about, it's in that clothing realm, those things, because again too, you're just trying to combat a bit of that sterility in that environment. And I love the analogy you said about putting on the gown and that transfers. mean, can see, not everybody's gonna think that, but I can definitely see me being like, I am now in this environment.

Rachael Hutchins (39:09.338)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (39:09.782)
So what are, know, blanket and pillow, something that you can bring to help remember home and.

Rachael Hutchins (39:16.634)
Hospital pillows are paper thin and scratchy. All of our clients who choose to bring their own pillow from home and their own like cozy throw blanket or full size blanket, whatever, typically are just so much more comfortable. And you can use the hospital sheets and blanket, but this is like, it's like you curl up with it or you lay your head on your pillow. I can equate it to is when I travel and I'm in a hotel room.

Dr. Shannon (39:32.665)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (39:44.079)
Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (39:45.572)
I never sleep as good. crawl into bed and it takes me forever to fall asleep because I don't have the things that make me feel at home. So when I as soon as my head hits my own pillow and I feel my own blanket up on my face, I'm content, relaxed, happy, safe. Right. So this simple little thing can transport you back to a place of safety and comfort. And it's simple. Right. You don't have to bring like your own bed, like a whole like beds like

Dr. Shannon (39:58.404)
Mm-hmm.

much better.

Dr. Shannon (40:09.594)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (40:15.032)
It can be simple and it makes a difference. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (40:18.746)
does. that's, yeah, this might be some of the most important things on our hospital list.

Rachael Hutchins (40:23.11)
yeah, for sure. Yeah, because these things aren't available at the hospital. Most of everything else we said, there's a version of it available. This is not happening unless you bring it yourself.

Dr. Shannon (40:29.188)
Exactly. Unless you bring it yourself. twinkle lights, LED candles. I like that. The aspect of, and you can get those little, we use them in our pumpkins or whatnot for Halloween. It's like little, you know, it looks like little candles or whatnot, things like that. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (40:45.83)
Mm-hmm. Yep. They're a little tea light candles and they look like a real flame these days. Like they're they make really good ones. I bring them in my birth bag for my clients. I bring like 24 and a whole strand of Twinkle lights. But obviously not every doula does that and you may not have a doula. So the idea with Twinkle lights is that it's like you can turn off all the lights and still have some illumination of light in our eyes. Like we tend like we have a physiological response to like a moving flame.

Dr. Shannon (40:56.142)
Hmm.

Dr. Shannon (41:02.382)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (41:10.5)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (41:12.964)
dim lights, glowing lights, like think about a Christmas tree, how that makes you feel when you look at it, like that gives you a little bit of that oxytocin release and that dim lighting.

Dr. Shannon (41:23.278)
Being able to turn off those fluorescent lights is key. Is key. So anything that you can do to promote that besides coming in and bringing your own giant floor lamp. So I think that's perfect.

Rachael Hutchins (41:27.142)
Yeah, those are stress inducers. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (41:37.582)
Yeah, our string lights that we get, they can be battery or they can be plugged in their LED and they provide enough light. They're good because like we string them like behind the bed and around the side and all the lights can be off and there's like enough light to kind of function. So like if the nurses come in, they don't feel like they need to turn on a light. You know, unless there's like absolute need for one, but like, yes, soon as those overheads come on, you're immediately like in red alert, red alert.

Dr. Shannon (41:54.756)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (42:00.485)
Protects labor land.

Dr. Shannon (42:06.446)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (42:06.79)
So we, it's like having those on, can still have all the lights off and still have some light to function. And then I really like putting the LED candles like in the bathroom and closing the door. Cause that again gives you that like you're in your own space. It's small and now it's lit by candles.

Dr. Shannon (42:21.804)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's a good one. That's a good one. Aromatherapy. I feel like...

Dr. Shannon (42:33.754)
scents and smells. can't remember if I'd said anything about that earlier, there's even probably not, but there was a research study. I think I've mentioned it in one of our episodes, maybe our other hospital bag one that talked about the difference in labor that, and this was just wild orange. I think it was a study in India that wild orange had on in the birthing space. And so that's like really cool as far as using aromatherapy diffuser.

essential oils, you know, if it's little even things that have a scent to it that you can bring, you know, like those little things that you put in like, you know, intimate drawers or whatnot, like even something like that. I'm thinking of like holding it up your nose and like sniffing it like, yeah, that's right. I've got one.

Rachael Hutchins (43:11.194)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (43:20.23)
Well, they make like necklaces and bracelets where you can put actual essential oils in instead of, I think kind of avoiding artificial fragrance if possible, but using essential oils where you can. So you can do a diffuser, you can bring a diffuser into the hospital if you want. That is kind of a bulkier thing to pack. There's water, there's a plug, it's like a whole thing, but it can be done or you can.

Dr. Shannon (43:28.58)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (43:37.135)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (43:40.73)
That's where I was like, okay, what else can you do? Uh-huh.

Rachael Hutchins (43:47.286)
you know they make little necklaces or bracelets where you can put a few drops of your favorite oil or whatever you like in the moment. So yeah that's the other way we do it because Hannah and I don't bring a diffuser but we bring I bring three oils lavender, wild orange, and peppermint and the easy way to get them I put them on a wet rag or

Dr. Shannon (43:49.933)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (43:53.632)
or like a rag. Mm-hmm. Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (44:10.565)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (44:11.45)
damp rag and then I'll like fan it around the room and it just infuses the room or I'll do it directly over mom and she gets wafts of it along with cool air so that works really well if she's hot. And then it's not fully filling the room, know, in case you decide that's no longer working, you don't like that smell anymore. So there are lots of ways to achieve aroma therapy but there are certainly benefits.

Dr. Shannon (44:15.844)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (44:23.62)
That's perfect. Yes.

Dr. Shannon (44:34.744)
Yeah, would highly recommend having that or having the option of it, you know, because you can even just put, yeah, you can, it's easy to bring as well. Let's see, birth affirmations. If there's things that you took in your childbirth education, you know, if there's mantras or things, know hypnobabies is big on that or things that you maybe want to have up that you can look at.

Rachael Hutchins (44:41.69)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, not everyone uses it yet. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (45:04.696)
Center in on and you don't necessarily want it to be like electronics as well, too. So things like that that can also like touching in on the that the visual sense and so I mean just think of this list is like, okay What are all the different senses? Senses and then what are the ways that we can? Make it feel like home and interact with those senses. So yeah things to hang up

Rachael Hutchins (45:15.846)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (45:27.002)
Yep, sight, scent, and sound are the main ones. And this is all addressing those things so that you can be in a state of relaxation. Something that I think I mentioned earlier, but earplugs and eye mask. So.

Dr. Shannon (45:32.516)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (45:41.53)
Yeah. So there's if you want to look at things and then if you don't want to look at things. I love it.

Rachael Hutchins (45:45.176)
Yes. And there's so many sounds in the hospital that like you can't even imagine. And so like a sound machine can help cancel out, putting in music can help cancel out. But then if you, if those are too stimulating, just putting in earplugs, just cancel out some of the sound can be helpful. And then an eye mask. Again, if light disrupts your sleep, having an eye mask, like getting through triage or really trying to achieve rest in the hospital, these things can be super beneficial.

Dr. Shannon (45:49.796)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (45:57.818)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (46:15.002)
to that and they're Yep, yep.

Dr. Shannon (46:17.754)
So simple. The birth ball. Yes. Correct me if I'm wrong. I, cause I did not want to bring one. We had one, but I was like, that's bulky. Obviously you deflate it and then you bring it and then you can like pump it back up easily there. The hospitals have them, but it's not like they have enough for everyone at all the times. Correct?

Rachael Hutchins (46:45.606)
So we have seen a trend lately, they're not providing them. They are more inclined to provide a peanut ball. And we're seeing like where they're actually, it's like you get a peanut ball, they pump it up there and then you take it home or they throw it away. They're not reusing them. So peanut ball.

Dr. Shannon (46:47.672)
Or do they not have them anymore?

Dr. Shannon (46:54.83)
Okay.

Dr. Shannon (47:06.81)
okay. Now tell, let's go through the difference. Yeah, what the difference between the birth ball and the peanut ball.

Rachael Hutchins (47:11.714)
Yeah, so the peanut ball we feel like we tell most clients that you can get one of those at the hospital. That's like literally a peanut shaped large like same consistency of a yoga ball or birth ball, but it's shaped like a peanut and it can be good for achieving positional like different positions, especially with an epidural or it can help with getting rest getting in that sideline lunge position.

Dr. Shannon (47:16.846)
Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (47:25.358)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (47:34.352)
I was gonna say sideline, because I've seen using that between the knees. But that's not something that you can, do you sit on that one? Yeah. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (47:38.648)
Yes, there's lots of positions. No, no, no, no, you sit on the birth ball, which is the big round, big round yoga ball is great for sitting on for getting kind of comfortable, but also being in a good upright, slightly forward leaning position. You can do hip circles, you can bounce, can, you know, lean over the side of the bed and sit on the ball keeps you in an upright position, but also isn't very exhausting on the legs. And then sometimes it's more comfortable than sitting on like a hard

Dr. Shannon (47:46.734)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (48:04.173)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (48:07.034)
chair or something if you want to sit sitting on the ball feels better.

Dr. Shannon (48:10.22)
Yeah, I know I did not have access to one. They had them at the hospital, but I feel like there were other people using them. I had this like really hard wooden rocking chair that I was using and I think I was like, I think something else would have been better.

Rachael Hutchins (48:22.374)
Yeah. A lot of the hospitals have now like upholstered recliners or rockers too, which can be great for sitting in for labor. Just putting some pillows behind your back. I've seen that used lots. So if you want a birth ball as part of your labor, you need to bring your own. If you're in, okay, I'll say that we are in the Atlanta area. Most of the hospitals I go to are not providing birth balls. So that's a great thing to figure out based on where you're birthing.

Dr. Shannon (48:39.299)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (48:45.338)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (48:49.496)
if birth balls will be available to you and if you want to bring it, some people deflate it, pack it, bring it inflated in the hospital. Some people bring it inflated and like leave it in the car until they need it or they just lug it up inflated and that's just how they do it.

Dr. Shannon (48:59.034)
Mm-hmm.

It's just how they do it. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (49:04.418)
Some doulas bring birth balls. I know Hannah does. I don't always. Everyone's different. So if you have a doula, can always say, hey, are you going to bring a birth ball? Figure that out. You want to have access to it because it can be great for achieving different positions throughout labor. I spent my entire pregnancy on a birth ball at my desk doing activities in the living room watching TV. And then I got in labor and like it was the most uncomfortable thing in the world because

Dr. Shannon (49:11.844)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (49:15.898)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (49:30.734)
baby was so low in my pelvis, like sitting was not happening. And I thought I had all these visions of like me using the birth ball. Yeah. I sat on it one time and I said, nope, nope. So just know, hold everything loosely. Like you never know.

Dr. Shannon (49:33.602)
Yeah, you're like, I'm gonna burn. I'm gonna use this birth pot.

you

Dr. Shannon (49:45.572)
Hold it, Leslie. I love it. Other thing you might want is cordless fan. something to... Like again, you might have the hot flashes. You might want something to cool you off. It might... It might feel like Beyonce. Just put it in like your hair flow and just feel, just get into labor land. I don't know. Use it however you want, but they're not gonna have that at the hospital.

Rachael Hutchins (49:47.174)
You never know. You never know.

Rachael Hutchins (50:07.278)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (50:15.072)
So and they're easy. They're small.

Rachael Hutchins (50:15.362)
Nope, nope. have, yeah, I have a super small like one that folds and when you pop it open, the fan blades pop up. So it's really easy to pack and take. It can be recharged. so there's that or the other one I really like for the hospital, which people usually buy and they like plan on using it on their stroller is it's like the tripod with the bendy flexy legs and you can wrap it and secure it in a number of places. So in labor, if you're moving around that

Dr. Shannon (50:24.77)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (50:34.126)
I was just about to say the stroller one. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (50:44.986)
fan could be used in lots and then you can repurpose it with baby with the stroller so and so that is the bulk of our like packing for hospital birth items with keeping the birth cave in mind creature comforts in mind and all of that our next section is one that i don't think we've covered before and this is speaking more specifically to home birthers

Dr. Shannon (50:47.278)
Yeah, all over the place.

Exactly. There you go.

Dr. Shannon (51:02.884)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (51:14.318)
And this is like if you're planning for a home birth, is albeit small chance that you will need to transfer to the hospital either before or during labor. So we wanted to share like what are what we call like the go bag. So these are essentials. If you're having a home birth that you want to have for your if you need to transfer to a hospital. So if you're planning a home birth, you do not need to pack all of those things.

we just listed out. You need a smaller, more condensed version in the event that you have to transfer to the hospital. And I think packing that bag and putting it in like the trunk of the car that you will take if you need to transfer or putting it in a closet but where everyone knows where it's at, it's out of eyesight. You know, we're going to focus on the main primary plan of home birth. But if you need to transfer and we have supported lots of clients through home to hospital transfer.

Dr. Shannon (51:43.172)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (52:05.956)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (52:11.62)
where some have prepared and had a bag ready and some have not and the ones that have not it's just been a little bit more or a lot more stressful because in the moment you're like you're the only one that as the birther that knows where everything is most of the time what you want and so it's hard for people to help you in that scenario. So a tip is to make a list of like last minute grab items like maybe it's your phone or the chargers

Dr. Shannon (52:21.008)
stressful.

Dr. Shannon (52:28.142)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (52:40.602)
have a list of last minute grab items so your brain doesn't have to think of what they are in the moment.

Dr. Shannon (52:44.984)
Right? It's like, this is what we need. People go get this. Yeah, I like that.

Rachael Hutchins (52:46.948)
Yes, yep and have that handy like on the fridge or something or you can even put it in the bag and then you pull that out when it's time. But many of the things we mentioned before are to be considered here but just a condensed version. So you still want to make sure you got a copy of your ID and insurance card, same same. If you're transferring from home to hospital you want to make sure you have copies of your records from your midwife and you won't get those beforehand. You will get those usually in the moment.

Dr. Shannon (52:58.746)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (53:06.426)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (53:15.812)
she will hand them off to you or she will hand them off to the hospital if she goes with you. And that's a great question for your midwife. How do you handle transfer, especially with my records? Because you're going to need those. It'll make it a lot easier when they see proof of X, Y, things when you're going to the hospital. And then your birth plan. So we recommend having like a plan B, birth plan, like if you need to transfer.

Dr. Shannon (53:22.629)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (53:27.972)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (53:35.652)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (53:42.692)
It doesn't mean all of your preferences have gone out the window. It does probably mean that some intervention is needed if you're transferring. So it's not like you can go like full intervention free, but you can still have a lot of your preferences protected and respected and still use it as a communication tool if you need to transfer. So we still highly recommend working through that process of your preferences in the hospital setting, even if you're planning a home birth.

Dr. Shannon (53:54.895)
Hmm.

Dr. Shannon (54:00.463)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (54:09.422)
Yep. No, I think it's important to touch on that. Yeah, it's not you're not packing this this giant Bag but it is the something smaller. So still wanting the important documents. We went through those The travel size of like toiletries again, that's just like good stuff to have anyways It's always nice to just have and then use for any sort of things. So toothbrush toothpaste We talked about the electronics

Rachael Hutchins (54:18.278)
Correct. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (54:37.348)
that having that list in there of what do you need to grab clothing in there as well too. It again doesn't have to be like the fancy stuff. So baby outfits, you know, and you may, you can have, I don't know if you can have that packed and then if you're, if you stay at home, you just pull it from there and use it. You know, it could kind of be like, you know, it's not like you've got to, it's packed over here, but I'm going to have one over here now. Just kind of putting it on in one little space. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (54:56.282)
Yes. Absolutely.

Nope, you're packing it and setting it aside. Yeah. and that's, that's like, you still need like clothes for yourself, but like a labor, a laboring outfit and one postpartum outfit and like three to four onesies for baby. don't need like days and days ideally. mean, and if you do need more things, someone can always bring them to you. Right. So just keep that in mind.

Dr. Shannon (55:10.755)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (55:19.78)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (55:23.226)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, you are going to still want to consider the food, food and snack for you, for everybody that's coming along, kind of stuff that we had mentioned before. You may already have that at the house. So it's like if you plan on that home birth, you wanted those good things, just pack those in with it. Mm hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (55:34.63)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (55:38.811)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (55:46.414)
and have them already packed. This is not like I'm figuring out what I want to pack for snacks. Have them already packed in your bag.

Dr. Shannon (55:51.32)
Well, I'm going to go.

Mm-hmm. And car seat installed. So that's like that's still relevant. Whether

Rachael Hutchins (56:00.826)
Well, it's relevant because some people, if you're planning a home birth and you're not letting in this potential of transfer, you're like, well, I don't need a car seat. I'm giving birth at home. Like I'm not going anywhere. If you need to go, you're going to want this ready. You're going to want it done. Right. So take that step and get it installed ahead of time.

Dr. Shannon (56:07.95)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (56:11.588)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (56:17.764)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (56:21.454)
Yeah, and preparing for this is not putting... I'm very much of this mindset of preparing in this manner for this plan B is not putting out into energy in the universe that this is a potential outcome, but you gotta get right with that headspace with it. Because I'm very much like, I'm gonna stick my head in sand and I'm not gonna look at that. Well, that's not good. That's not good. Uh-huh. Yeah. But...

Rachael Hutchins (56:41.734)
Well, yeah, you don't want to give that energy because like I don't I'm not doing that. So I'm not going to give that energy. Same thing as a caesarian. People are like, I'm not having a caesarian. I'm not going to give that energy. And we're always we're of the mindset. And I think you would agree like it's worth like putting in a little bit of effort to prepare ahead of time and then tuck it away. Like we don't have to hyper focus on it. That's the negative mind. That's like, you know, don't ruminate.

Dr. Shannon (56:57.18)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You don't have to yes, exactly. You don't have to ruminate on it Mm-hmm. Don't ruminate on it. So do these things and then move on keep it simple store it in a logical place closet car what we talked about Sometimes so our next section is and I know I dealt with this sometimes you do have an extended stay

Rachael Hutchins (57:13.54)
Yes. Yep.

Dr. Shannon (57:23.17)
at the hospital. So we didn't want to do just an episode solely on, what if you have an extended stay? But that topic came up and it was like, okay, how can we revamp what we've done before and add this in? Because sometimes you will stay for five days and you may not know that. And sometimes two year maybe, maybe staying longer in the hospital than you had intended. Like those things can happen. And so it's a little bit of extra prep.

Rachael Hutchins (57:30.544)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (57:47.93)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (57:52.816)
can help with that as well too. Again, this may not be stuff that you bring into the hospital. It can be the stuff that's like in the car there if you need it. I don't even remember. Yeah, because we were in the hospital for a very long time. it felt like a very long time with my first. I don't remember what Brendan did. I don't even know. I probably went back and forth to home and then slept on that crappy.

Rachael Hutchins (57:57.862)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (58:02.916)
It's like a backup bag.

Rachael Hutchins (58:15.268)
He might have ran home. A lot of dads will do that. Or some people.

Dr. Shannon (58:22.096)
bench in the hospital. This is why you have kids when you're So you can deal with that. But anywho, so this would be, these are some extra things to bring. More clothes, you know.

Rachael Hutchins (58:22.414)
No.

Rachael Hutchins (58:27.386)
Yes.

Rachael Hutchins (58:34.342)
Backup clothes, things that like comfy clothes for you and your partner. They need stuff too.

Dr. Shannon (58:41.472)
Mm-hmm to try to kind of limit how often they are going back and forth as well Extra baby outfits too they tend to They have a lot of fluids From every possible so You might go through some some extra clothes. So I was a really big fan of just those like white Gerber onesies

Rachael Hutchins (58:50.746)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (58:56.646)
Mm-hmm

Rachael Hutchins (59:09.125)
yeah. Yes.

Dr. Shannon (59:09.276)
Because you just got those in packs because you can always put fun little things over it or whatever and I did not care if they just got ruined So those were my absolute favorites So it's I'm not talking like, you know, this cute little dress things or yeah No, this is like literally get the Gerber onesies get some little pants or whatever you need like it's it's nothing fancy Additional toiletries as well too. So even

Rachael Hutchins (59:21.51)
All the cute clothes, no, Onesies. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (59:36.428)
more things. mean, it would be more of the not just the travel item things, but what are some of the extra things you have those there. so specifics of, you know, extra skincare, things like that.

Rachael Hutchins (59:43.29)
Because you already have those packed. Yeah. What are some extra things for a longer stay? Yeah. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (59:53.274)
Yeah, I like the face wipes for freshening up the face and dry shampoo because it's easier than full on like washing if you just kind of want to feel lighter and fresher. But you don't necessarily need that in like in the primary hospital bag, you know.

Dr. Shannon (59:56.462)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (01:00:09.552)
Right, right. Yeah, when we're looking at not staying too long. Extra entertainment. Yeah, because I do remember this, the extended the hospital TV and I was like, I cannot have the news on. So being mindful of what you're looking at. So this is why Kindles are so good. Y'all.

Rachael Hutchins (01:00:17.328)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (01:00:31.654)
Yeah, the e-reader, I'm a huge fan. It's easy to travel with. You have access to all the different books. And if you want to grab a new book, it's easy. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (01:00:35.567)
Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (01:00:40.026)
y'all don't understand. I would have a bag packed of just books and now you don't have to. You can just pack in your Kindle anyways. I mean, I know that's, know, not everybody has one, magazines, podcasts, things that you want to listen to using those electronics that you already have, just, you know, downloading episodes of things, continuing in that, that realm of what, just be mindful of what you're, you know, taking in because sometimes if you are there extended stay,

Rachael Hutchins (01:01:00.902)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (01:01:08.994)
maybe, I don't know, maybe there is a little bit of extra stress and so you really want to, you know, make sure you've got friends or the office or something like that.

Rachael Hutchins (01:01:16.932)
Yeah, and I like too to add to this for, and this is more like on the induction side, because we say if you have an induction, it could be, you know, one day to four days and that's like before baby even arrives. And so things like cards or travel games or things like that, that you could play with your partner or distract yourself with as entertainment as well.

Dr. Shannon (01:01:26.416)
you

Dr. Shannon (01:01:31.28)
I didn't think about that. Yeah.

Dr. Shannon (01:01:39.224)
Yeah, no, that's a good one. That's a good one. Extra foods. Just extra non-perishable things, easy things that you want to And having, I mean, you can look up beforehand what is at the hospital. It still gets on my nerves that like McDonald's are at the hospitals, anywho. But

Rachael Hutchins (01:01:45.306)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (01:01:50.586)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (01:02:06.064)
That's just Northside Sandy Springs, let's just be clear. I don't even know if it's still there.

Dr. Shannon (01:02:08.566)
Okay, okay, good. thought that that was, is it not? I hope not. I'm hoping, well, see, it's been a very long time since I've at the hospital, so hopefully things have changed.

Rachael Hutchins (01:02:16.976)
Like there's a place at Kennistone Hospital called the Bistro and it's amazing.

Dr. Shannon (01:02:21.678)
See, knowing that, you may have good options there. So maybe have some cash on you or something like that. And then if you're at, you know, those, I mean, we know the local hospitals here, but downtown Marietta, which is close to Kinnaston, has lots of good food. like there's delivery options too. So exactly. These things, use these things. Because we maybe didn't have those back in the day. Or it wasn't quite as easy. Yeah.

Rachael Hutchins (01:02:23.941)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (01:02:42.02)
Yep, take care of yourself. Yep. Yeah, you could door dash from Whole Foods too. Like you could door dash like some healthy food too.

Dr. Shannon (01:02:51.374)
Yeah, exactly. Let's say, so again, you don't have to do anything that we mentioned. This whole episode, you don't have to do it. But there's a reason why we shared it. And there is importance in the planning and the prep. And some of these items could make just life a little bit easier. And if it doesn't bring you too much stress and

Rachael Hutchins (01:03:01.91)
You

Dr. Shannon (01:03:20.592)
packing for it and planning for it. Sometimes a lot of people find the comfort in, am packed and I feel prepared and planned. Yes, you know, you gotta be bamboo and you gotta be flexible because life's gonna flip you upside down. However, it helps to have these things planned and prepped. Packing your hospital bag.

Rachael Hutchins (01:03:26.906)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (01:03:32.571)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (01:03:36.548)
Yeah, and some people might want to know when to start packing their bag. And I think 36 weeks is a good time to be having it ready to go. We've supported many people who have gone into labor at 36 weeks. So it's not outside of the realm. It's definitely a little early, but you know, so being ready by then is good. And then, like I said, you can revisit that bag a couple of times if like you keep going on, like in your weeks of gestation, you can adjust your bag accordingly.

Dr. Shannon (01:03:43.386)
Mm-hmm.

Dr. Shannon (01:04:04.676)
Mm-hmm.

Rachael Hutchins (01:04:06.616)
And you know, we definitely don't think having a lot of stuff or spending a ton of money on this is the answer to everything or will make you feel completely prepared. It really is about like the excitement surrounding this incredible moment in your life and preparing in a meaningful way, you know, and taking charge and ownership of your birth, you know. So it's we're trying to kind of add those elements to this process.

Dr. Shannon (01:04:34.316)
I know see who knew packing your hospital bag was you standing up for yourself and owning your birth. Yeah, exactly. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in. Stay tuned for another great episode coming soon.

Rachael Hutchins (01:04:38.788)
Yes, this is your birth. You're in charge.