🧳 Hospital bag checklist
Pack in advance, for example around week 36, following your maternity team's plan. Check what your own maternity unit supplies.
📋 Documents
Use the Civil Registration Service to register the birth. For unmarried parents, current rules require the mother to provide the father’s contact details unless an applicable exception applies; check the registrar’s process. Birth registration does not itself settle guardianship. Donor-conceived registration has a separate process.
👶 Baby essentials
Confirm what your maternity unit supplies; keep the head uncovered for indoor sleep.
📋 Parent essentials
Register with a GP for the HSE Maternity and Infant Care Scheme and confirm your maternity-unit contact and postnatal follow-up. Public health nurses support infant care; do not assume every private service is covered.