Here's a funny little thing that happens when you get pregnant: All of a sudden, everyone and everything around you is only interested in the special little person you're growing inside you. This happens for all the right reasons — babies are an incredible gift, they're fun to celebrate, and they deserve to be loved and nurtured from the start.
But here's the thing, mama: So do you. And while nearly every mom I've ever known (myself included) voluntarily traps themselves under the weight of mom guilt from pretty much the second they find out they're expecting, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be looked after while you're pregnant, too.
Enter: Baby Boldly's Birth Bag, which is quite possibly the most comprehensive, borderline perfect baby product I have seen in my nearly 13 years of writing on the internet about babies and being a mom. There is no hyperbole here, friends. This bag is the real deal.
I went into labor on March 25, 2009, a full two months before my son's May 24 due date. As a 24-year-old first-time mom, I was only just beginning to think about what I might want and need in the delivery room. The internet was a different place then; most "parenting sites" were blogs run by moms, and they did offer invaluable advice, but finding the right advice still entailed a lot of personal research and time to figure out what might work for me.
If someone had asked me that day what I was bringing to the hospital with me, I would have been stumped. As it was, I arrived with next to nothing: no clean clothes, nothing to wash with, not even a real understanding of what I might feel like after giving birth. After all, culturally we put a lot of emphasis on the new life in the room — but what about the mom who made it all happen?
These are the kinds of questions that prompted moms and friends Natalie McBride and Megan Mangiaracino to begin exploring the idea of putting together a maternity concierge service for moms. But the more they explored that (brilliant) idea, the more they realized that there was something else moms need in the labor and delivery room that they could put together right now.
Once they had the idea for their baby bags, Natalie and Megan knew they needed to test it out. The pair shared that once they had everything assembled, they asked a group of moms to check out the bags — and things took off from there.
I cannot overstate enough how excited I was when I saw the Baby Boldly Birth Bag, because it was immediately clear that the bag is ideal for two people: first-time parents who don't know what they need in the hospital room and veteran parents who have found that, confusingly enough, even though they've been through labor and delivery before, somehow the game has completely changed.
As Natalie and Megan explained, expectant parents have enough to worry and learn about before and while giving birth; the contents of their birth bag should not be one of them. To that end, they made sure to stock each bag with nontoxic, safe products that they themselves love and that can be used long after your baby has arrived.
Birth Bag: Fully Prepared
$229
from
Baby Boldly
When it comes to all things baby and child, I am the queen bee of being frugal and not spending a lot of money until you have to. When my son was young, I loved going to thrift stores for his clothes and shopping on Etsy for vintage shirts, and I have happily filled my home with secondhand items from Facebook Marketplace over the years.
Having said that, if there is one thing you insist on for both yourself and your labor experience, it should be Baby Boldly's Fully Prepared Birth Bag. The price tag of $229 is nothing when you consider everything that comes inside, the fact that the bag can be used well into the future, and the tremendous burden of time and energy you can avoid by having a fully stocked birth bag delivered to your home with just a single click.
The entire list of what the Fully Prepared Birth Bag gives you is impressive. I'm 100% sure it never would have occurred to me to bring honey sticks into the hospital for when I needed a tiny push of energy to keep going, and I'm 100% sure that just having honey sticks would have made a world of difference in the toughest moments of my delivery experience. If a honey stick can do all that, imagine what else the contents of this bag can do.
Birth Bag: Happy Medium
$189
from
Baby Boldly
If you or the expectant mom you know is the type of person who does like to find their own products, but you also want to do something nice for her anyway, the Happy Medium Birth Bag is the way to go. This bag still comes with everything you might need during and after labor (yes, those honey sticks are included), plus a few extras such as a USB phone charger, thank-you cards, and shower sandals.
Birth Bag: The Minimalist
$139
from
Baby Boldly
If you're trying to keep your baby budget in check (trust: we know it gets expensive) or you've been through labor and delivery enough times to have your system down pat, the Minimalist Birth Bag is the one for you. This birth bag still gives a new mom what she needs and is a budget-friendly option.
(Psst: Looking for just the bag and nothing else? You can snag one for only $109.)
*Psst: if you choose to purchase an item from this post, LittleThings.com may receive a small cut. Each item and price is up to date at the time of publication; however, an item may be sold out or the price may be different at a later date.
