5 Must haves for Expecting and New mums

In our last post, we discussed 5 must haves for new born babies. This post is in continuation to that one, listing out the things a mother must have for herself while making a run to hospital.

5 Must Haves for Expecting  & New Mums when making a run to Hospital

1. Nursing Gowns/dress for New Mum (3-4)

Again a lot of hospitals do provide the clothings as part of the package but it gives a mother real comfort in her own clothes that she is used to wear at home.  

Hospitals are uncomfortable for most of people and you may just want to give a bit of homely touch to the mother after what she has been through. You may buy it before hand and let the mother were it 2-3 times to feel comfortable in them afterwards.

Emphasising on the numbers as she may need to change them quite frequently basis the condition she may be in. I also took her favourite blanket from home along with everything just keeping things in perspective.

2. Insulated Water bottle (1 ltr minimum)

Our Indian nannies were no fools when they emphasized on new mother's to have warm water for initial few months. Medical research also has proved that having warm water eases internal swelling and helps the gut to re-adjust to the space once have baby is delivered. There are many cheap as well as expensive options available but Milton is the best. It not too expensive but is sturdy enough to stay with you forever.  

3. Manual Breast Pump 

Mother's milk is the best blessing that a mother can give to her child. It's important for new mother to start lactating from the very first day. Your lactation consultant can vouch for it how much babies help their mothers in lactating, it takes effort in the initial days to help mothers lactate naturally. But babies are too weak and at times get exhausted in minutes, the breast pump is a blessing in disguise in such cases as it may help the mother to lactate naturally even when the kid is asleep or gets exhausted. 

My recommendation is that it is a must have, particularly if you wish to join back to work within first 6 months of delivery or even if you want your partner to help you feed the baby.  We bought a manual pump by Pigeon and it worked really well, though we used it for 3-4 months but it was such a relief.

4. Breast Pads

Now let's talk about mothers who are on the other side of this discussion and don't have to worry about managing powder feeds as they simply have more than enough. Now we may have a totally different problems for such mothers, lactation is a natural process and at time of your baby if is not able to feed enough the milk. due to any reason. At times, this may become really painful and at times milk may ooze out. The pads are the real saviours in such cases as they not only save our clothes but also ensure that we don't feel discomfort if things go south. A word of advice is to always keep an extra pair in the bag and simply replace them whenever needed. I used Mee Mee ones and they were really good and super absorbent. However now days many eco friendly cloth pads are also available. Do check them out.

5. Nursing Bra

Now these are something which you might have never considered to buy but these are really must haves. A lot of mothers prefer not to use these for 1-2 months. You can choose the one made out of soft cotton cloth. Do choose a sizer bigger that your normal size at the time of delivery. The one by inner sense was really comfortable.

Hope you will find this list useful.

Happy Parenting !!