Before Baby’s Arrival

About a month before your due date, we suggest you pack a bag with items you will need during your stay, as well as clothing for your newborn. Since the hospital cannot be responsible for your personal belongings, please leave your jewelry, valuables and money at home.  Items you may wish to bring for yourself might include nightgowns with easy access for breastfeeding, personal toiletries, bathrobe and slippers, nursing bras and “going home” clothing. Your new baby will need an undershirt, an outer garment, a sleepsack and a “going home” outfit. If you plan to bottle feed your baby, please bring a pacifier. For breastfeeding moms, pacifiers are not needed until your baby is three to four weeks old.

Massachusetts law requires all children who are under eight years old or under 57 inches tall to be fastened in a child car seat when riding in a motor vehicle. Your baby must go home in an infant car seat. To ensure the security of your baby on the trip home, it is very important to become familiar with the operation of your car seat prior to arriving at the Medical Center. Call your local fire station for a list of safety technicians that can check and adjust your baby’s car seat ahead of time. Keep children rear-facing until at least two years old or when their height and weight reaches the upper limits noted on the rear-facing car seat. Remember that infant car seats are different from “convertible” car seats, which can hold larger children either rear or forward-facing.

In order to protect yourself and your baby, it is important that you are up-to-date on vaccinations for tetanus (Lockjaw), diphtheria and pertussis (Whooping Cough), as well as measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and chicken pox (Varicella).  Please be prepared to provide us with the dates of your last vaccinations. If any are overdue, you will have the opportunity to be given these vaccines before you go home.

The state of Massachusetts also recommends vaccinating newborns against Hepatitis B before leaving the hospital. Your nurse will provide you with Hepatitis B literature and a consent form, which must be signed before the vaccination can be administered. You may want to discuss this vaccination with your pediatrician before coming to the hospital.

It's important for you to learn about Cord Blood Banking now, as you must sign a consent form and other agreements with a cord blood bank several weeks before your baby is born if this is a benefit you would like to access.

Cord blood banks freeze and store blood and blood products from the placenta and/or the umbilical cord. Some families choose to bank their babies’ cord blood because the stem cells in the stored blood can be used in stem cell transplants to treat some diseases, including certain genetic diseases, cancers and disorders of the blood and immune system. Learn more about cord blood banking.