How We Build the Hospital Bag Checklist: Methodology & Sources

What the checklist is (and isn’t)

A planning aid for packing for a hospital birth. It does not diagnose, triage or tell you when to go to the hospital. For medications, feeding plans, medical devices and anything your hospital restricts, ask your care team or hospital.

Hospital supplies start as “not confirmed”

Hospitals differ. Some provide diapers, pads or a breast pump; others ask you to bring your own. Every item starts as not confirmed, and only quantities your hospital confirms reduce what you bring. Partial confirmation only offsets the confirmed amount.

How progress is counted

• Only included items you need to bring yourself count (needed minus hospital-confirmed quantity).
• An item is packed when the packed quantity reaches that amount. Bought-but-not-packed doesn’t count; neither do promised gifts.
• “Pack last” items stay unfinished until they’re packed, so you won’t see 100% before leaving.
• Tasks (like planning your route) are counted separately. If nothing needs packing we show “Nothing to pack yet”, not 100%.

Budget

Amounts are stored as whole minor units (such as cents). Each cost entry is counted once even when it appears in both your registry and hospital bag. Items without a price are listed as “not priced” and excluded from totals rather than counted as zero. We never estimate medical bills, insurance or taxes.

Due date

Estimated due date = first day of last period + 280 days + (cycle length − 28). We use calendar-date math (not clock time) so daylight-saving changes and leap years can’t shift results. Supported for regular cycles of 21–35 days. A due date from your care team always takes priority.

Customizing

Changing presets shows a list of suggested changes first. Your packed quantities, notes, people, custom items and manual edits are never overwritten, and skipped items don’t come back by themselves.

Sources

• Scripps Health — What to pack for your hospital stay
• NHS — Hospital bag checklist (UK; cross-reference only)
• Johns Hopkins Medicine — Calculating a due date
• NHS — Due date calculator
• CPSC — Safe sleep (registry sleep items)