💼 Gear & logistics · Around 35 weeks, or earlier if advised
🧳 The hospital bag and your birth-partner kit
Pack together before the due date, with your partner choosing what feels comfortable. Kenyan hospitals differ in what they supply and their birth-partner policies, so ask your maternity team for its checklist.
Birth-partner essentials
- Phone, charger and a safely positioned cable; check whether power banks are permitted.
- Cash and your usual payment method, plus transport and parking plans.
- Water bottle and snacks, subject to hospital rules.
- A change of clothes, toiletries and any regular medicines.
- Hospital contact details and a short list of your partner's preferences.
Pack by purpose
1. Confirm the hospital's requirements
Ask about companion access, visiting, food, charging devices, feeding supplies and what baby items are provided. Do not assume an overnight stay or particular equipment is included.
2. Keep records accessible
Bring identification, your Mother Child Health Handbook, appointment or admission documents and relevant medicine information. SHA administers the health coverage system, with SHIF one of its funds, following the replacement of NHIF in October 2024. Check enrolment and dependant details, and confirm your actual maternity provider's eligibility, covered services, any fees and required documents before admission.
3. Prepare a first-outfit pouch
Pack a nappy and a soft cotton outfit in suitable sizes. Include an adjustable light layer for cooler conditions; do not assume baby needs a cardigan or thick sleeping bag indoors. Keep baby's head uncovered indoors.
4. Pack for baby's stay
Bring spare clothing, nappies and muslin cloths in quantities guided by the facility and likely stay. If bringing a sleep sack, choose a well-fitted one suitable for the actual room conditions. Keep loose cloths out of the sleep space.
5. Support your partner's comfort
Pack loose clothes, comfortable underwear, maternity pads, toiletries and feeding-access clothing if wanted. Include prescribed medicines and glasses. Ask before adding products or a feeding pillow, which must never be used for infant sleep.
6. Organise discharge too
Keep essentials with you rather than relying on access to the car. Arrange appropriate child restraints for travel. Before leaving, confirm that the Mother Child Health Handbook is updated, and check jaundice follow-up, the local vaccination schedule and your next clinic appointment with the maternity team.
A local detail, or your own experience with this guide? Write to the team
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Read next
- Employment Act
- Birth registration
- Civil Registration Services
- SHA and SHIF
- Mother Child Health Handbook
- Emergency services
- ART bill status
- Parentage judgment
When in doubt, contact your doctor or midwife. For a life-threatening emergency, call 999 or 112.