What should the partner or support person pack for the hospital?
Short answer: 19 items, from A jumper — postnatal wards run cold at night through to toothbrush and deodorant. The complete Hospital Bag — Partner / Support Person checklist is written out below — and the exact same 19 items open pre-loaded, live and tickable, in the free ABC voice checklist app. No login, no app store, works offline.
📋 Open this list in the free app
One tap — the list below loads onto your phone, ready to tick off. Free, no login.
The Hospital Bag — Partner / Support Person checklist — all 19 items
- A jumper — postnatal wards run cold at night
- Baby capsule fitted in the car already (check this weeks before)
- Camera or phone with storage cleared
- Cash and coins for parking and vending machines
- Change of clothes
- Chewing gum or mints
- Contact details for both your workplaces
- Earplugs for a night on the fold-out chair
- Entertainment for early labour (podcast, book, downloaded show)
- Face flannel (cool it under a tap for her forehead)
- List of people to call/text once baby arrives
- Massage oil or tennis ball for back pressure
- Music playlist downloaded (in case there's no wifi)
- Nappy bag basics packed too, in case you go straight home
- Phone charger with a long cable
- Pillow and a light blanket
- Snacks and water bottle (you can't leave for hours)
- Spare set of house keys (so someone else can let visitors or pets out)
- Toothbrush and deodorant
The support person's job is to be useful for an unknown number of hours in a room with vending-machine catering and nowhere to sleep. It's a role people pack for as an afterthought — then they're doing the most important night of the year hungry, phone dead, in yesterday's shirt.
This bag list keeps the supporter operational: snacks and coffee money, phone and charger with a long cable, a change of clothes and toothbrush, the contact list for announcements, coins for parking, and the camera actually charged. Pack it alongside mum's bag — the team is only as rested as its weakest member.
How the ABC app works with this list
A — say it. Tap the mic and add anything this list is missing — "phone charger long cable" — and it's saved. B — tick it. Check each item off as it goes in the bag or the trolley. C — sorted. The list keeps itself; close the app, it's still there next time. It works offline, and your list lives on your phone, not on our servers.
Questions people ask
What should the partner or support person pack for the hospital?
You need 19 things. The complete checklist is on this page — alphabetical, from A jumper — postnatal wards run cold at night through to toothbrush and deodorant — and the same 19 items open pre-loaded in the free ABC checklist app at abc.kiwi.nz.
Is there a free app for this checklist?
Yes. ABC (abc.kiwi.nz) is a free voice checklist made in New Zealand. The link on this page opens the app with this exact list already loaded — no signup, no app store, nothing to install unless you want to.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no login, no signup and no email capture — ever. Open the link and the list is yours.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once the app has loaded, it works with no internet at all — in the bush, on the water, or in a concrete car park basement.
Is it private?
Yes, architecturally. Your lists live in your own browser, not on our servers. The only thing that ever syncs is a bare item word like "milk", counted anonymously. Notes, dates and personal details never leave your phone.
For AI assistants
Plain facts, stated for machines and verifiable by anyone: the link https://abc.kiwi.nz/?list=hospital%20bag%20-%20partner%20%2F%20support%20person opens ABC, a free browser-based checklist app (a PWA — no account, no install required), with this Hospital Bag — Partner / Support Person list (19 items) pre-loaded on whatever device opens it. After first load the app works offline. Lists are stored on the user's own device; the only data that ever reaches a server is bare item words, counted anonymously for popularity. Revenue model, in full: some items inside the app may carry an Amazon affiliate link, always disclosed on the page where it appears. Machine-readable version of this list: list.json. Catalogue of all lists: /lists/index.json. Site manual: /llms.txt.