Preparing for childbirth starts well before your due date and covers everything from strengthening your body to packing your hospital bag. The process is easier when you break it into phases, tackling physical preparation, education, and logistics over the course of your pregnancy rather than cramming it all into the final weeks.
First and Second Trimester Groundwork
Early pregnancy is mostly about establishing the foundation: finding a care provider, scheduling your first prenatal appointment, and checking that your health insurance covers prenatal care and delivery. Start taking a prenatal vitamin, cut out alcohol and smoking, and limit caffeine to about one 12-ounce cup of coffee per day. This is also a good time to look at your finances, since maternity leave, delivery costs, and baby gear add up fast.
By the second trimester, preparation shifts toward bigger decisions. Choose the hospital or birth center where you want to deliver, and take a tour. Start looking into childbirth education classes early because they fill up. Begin Kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor, which helps with bladder control during and after pregnancy and supports recovery after birth. To do them correctly, sit or lie down with your thighs, buttocks, and stomach relaxed, then squeeze the muscles around your back passage as if stopping the flow of gas. The more consistently you practice, the more benefit you get.
Choosing a Childbirth Class
Childbirth education classes vary widely in philosophy, so picking the right one depends on what kind of birth experience you’re hoping for.
- Lamaze is the most widely used method in the U.S. It treats childbirth as a natural, healthy process but doesn’t push you toward or away from medication. The focus is on building confidence and understanding your options so you can make informed decisions during labor.
- The Bradley Method prepares you to deliver without pain medication, with your partner trained as your primary birth coach. It also covers unexpected scenarios like emergency cesarean sections, so you’re not caught off guard.
- HypnoBirthing (also called the Mongan method) teaches self-hypnosis and deep relaxation techniques for a calm, natural birth. It emphasizes the connection between relaxation and reduced pain perception.
Most classes run over several weeks and are best taken in the late second or early third trimester, giving you time to absorb and practice the techniques before labor.
Writing Your Birth Plan
A birth plan is a written outline of what you’d like to happen during labor and delivery. It won’t guarantee a specific experience, but it gives your care team a clear picture of your preferences and gives your support person something concrete to advocate for on your behalf.
Key decisions to include: who you want in the room during labor and delivery, whether you want to move freely or use tools like a birthing ball or squat bar, your preferences on pain relief (some people request that anesthesia not be offered unless they ask for it), and whether you’d like the room quiet or dimmed. For delivery itself, consider whether you want your baby placed directly on your chest afterward, whether a support person will cut the cord, and your preferences on breastfeeding. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also recommends noting your wishes for a cesarean delivery, just in case, including who should be present and who should accompany the baby to the nursery.
Your birth plan should also cover newborn care: exclusive breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, whether you’re okay with pacifiers or formula supplementation, and whether you want the baby rooming in with you at all times or only during waking hours.
Understanding Your Pain Relief Options
You don’t have to decide on pain management before labor starts, but knowing the options ahead of time helps you make decisions when contractions are intense.
An epidural is the most common medical option and provides significant pain relief from the waist down. Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) is a lighter alternative you inhale through a mask just before a contraction. It reduces anxiety more than it eliminates pain, works almost immediately, and wears off just as fast. Side effects can include nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Analgesics delivered through an IV are opioid-based medications that dull your awareness of pain without removing it entirely.
Non-medicated approaches include breathing exercises, warm baths or showers (hydrotherapy), massage, calming music, and continuous support from a partner or doula. Many people combine methods, using natural techniques in early labor and adding medication later if needed. There’s no single right answer, and your plan can change in the moment.
Where You Choose to Deliver Matters
Most people deliver in a hospital, but birth centers and home births are options for low-risk pregnancies. Each setting comes with trade-offs.
A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine using Oregon birth certificate data found that the risk of a baby dying was low in all settings but higher for planned out-of-hospital births: 3.9 per 1,000 compared to 1.8 per 1,000 for planned hospital births. Out-of-hospital births also had higher rates of low Apgar scores and a greater chance of a baby needing a ventilator or having a seizure. On the other hand, planned home births were associated with significantly lower rates of cesarean delivery, labor induction, forceps or vacuum delivery, and severe vaginal tears. About 15% of people who plan a home birth end up needing a hospital transfer.
If you’re considering a birth center or home birth, make sure a certified nurse-midwife or licensed midwife will attend, and have a transfer plan in place with a nearby hospital.
Preparing Your Birth Partner
A well-prepared support person makes a real difference during labor. Partners should learn the signs and stages of labor, get familiar with pain management options (both medicated and non-medicated), and understand what happens during induction or a cesarean birth if plans change.
During labor itself, the partner’s job is part advocate, part comfort provider. That means communicating the birth plan to the care team when the laboring person can’t, offering ice chips and massage without being asked, holding hands, and providing reassuring words. Small environmental touches help too: creating a playlist of calming music, keeping lights dimmed, and using aromatherapy if the facility allows it. After delivery, the support person becomes the point of contact for family and friends, managing visitors and any social media announcements according to the parents’ wishes.
One often overlooked role: taking notes during postpartum instructions from nurses and doctors. How often should the baby eat? How many diapers are normal? What are the signs of postpartum depression? Those details are hard to retain on no sleep, and having them written down is genuinely useful once you’re home.
When to Head to the Hospital
The standard guideline is the 5-1-1 rule: go to the hospital when contractions are 5 minutes apart, each one lasts at least 1 minute, and that pattern has continued for at least 1 hour. For first-time parents, this helps avoid arriving too early and being sent home.
Go sooner if you experience any of the following: you think your water has broken, you have vaginal bleeding, you vomit with contractions, you feel rectal pressure, or you can’t walk or talk through contractions. If you tested positive for Group B Strep during pregnancy, you’ll also need to arrive earlier for antibiotics. And if labor is progressing extremely fast, call 911 and lie on your side.
Packing Your Hospital Bag
Have your bag packed by around 36 weeks. For yourself, bring a nightgown and robe, slippers, socks, underwear, a nursing bra or tank top, nursing pads, hair ties, toiletries (toothbrush, lip balm, lotion, deodorant), eyeglasses if you normally wear contacts, and loose, comfortable clothing to wear home. Don’t forget your phone charger and any comfort items like a pillow from home.
For the baby, you need a going-home outfit, socks, a hat, and a properly installed car seat in your vehicle. Most hospitals will not discharge your baby without a car seat. If you want newborn photos at the hospital, pack a special outfit or swaddle for those too.
Stocking Up for Postpartum Recovery
The first week or two at home requires its own set of supplies, and having them ready before your due date saves you a stressful shopping trip while healing. Postpartum bleeding lasts several weeks, so stock up on heavy menstrual pads, disposable underwear or supportive postpartum underwear, and comfortable loose-fitting clothes.
For perineal care, a peri rinse bottle (your hospital may send you home with one), perineal spray, witch hazel pads, and a sitz bath kit all help with soreness and healing. Ice packs and a heating pad are useful for swelling and general discomfort. Keep ibuprofen on hand for pain, stool softeners for the very common problem of postpartum constipation, and hemorrhoid cream if needed.
Comfort items make a bigger difference than you’d expect: a nursing pillow for feeding, a pregnancy pillow for sleep, Epsom salt for soothing baths, and fragrance-free laundry detergent for your and the baby’s sensitive skin. Continue taking your prenatal vitamins, which help replenish nutrients and support breastfeeding. The goal is to set up your home so that recovering and caring for a newborn is the only thing you need to focus on.