What Hospitals Provide

Hi there, how exciting for you!!!

Well I cant say what Waitakere provide but Middlemore provided me with MP, they were like these mattresses....eeeeww. I would suggest buy J&J MP as they are very good but still thin and comfy.

They did not give me BP. But then I took a box with me when I packed my bag.

They do provide nappies (Huggies) so that was good but they do not provide wipes instead they ask to use flannel. Its fine but when their first poo is green and sticky....wipes are better to use. I took a travel pack huggies wipes and they came in handy. I only used wipes to get most of the sticky poo out and then use flannel to wipe the rest of the bum.

I cant think of what other thing they provide at the mo...apart from food (yucky food). But then every hospital is different. I heard that Birth care is way better!!

How exciting!! I had my baby at NSH. As it's the same DHB as Waitakere, it's probably similiar. From memory (which is fuzzy!), I didn't get much. I think I got about 6 maternity pads and a few NB nappies. You need to take your own breast pads, nipple cream, baby wipes & lots of maternity pads!

oh, and take your own loo paper. Hospital loo paper is rough on a tender toosh!

Staying at Waitak. Would love to go to Birthcare but live in the wrong area to get it funded! I'll take whatever's free!

Roughly, how many mat pads did you get through in the first few weeks? Am starting to stockpile when I do the groceries.

nzpiper wrote: oh, and take your own loo paper. Hospital loo paper is rough on a tender toosh!

OH YAH I remember the T Paper....*NOTE TO SELF*...Pack some nice and soft toilet paper for this one.

I gave birth at Waitakere in July 06 and confirm same as nicci, when I was there they provided maternity pads, nappies but no breast pads or wipes - but they use these facecloth things to wipe baby cause it's much more effective with the black-tar like poos they do as newborns!

When I was getting up to have a shower I asked my m/w if I could have some mat pads (they were sitting right there) and she said 'oh, we're not really supposed to give them out' WTF?? Not even 1! (Chch womens btw)

With MP's I went through maybe7-8 packs. I know I bought 4-5 and had to go get some more, then needed super ones for between 4-6 weeks.

Akld and Birthcare supply pads and nappies, but you have to supply your own breast pads and wipes if you want to use them.
I actually liked the hospital pads coz they are so thick they are nice and soft and comfy on sore bottoms! And I second what someone else said about stashing a few nappies in your bag to take home .
With maternity pads, I went thru heaps with Maya, with the gremlins I stockpiled heaps but by the time I got home from hospital on day 4 I only needed normal ones so I ended up keeping the maternity ones to use for nights.

The dark towels tip is great - thanks! I did wonder about that as all our towels at home are white or pale green - I'm sure they'd looking stunning with post-baby bleeding all over them. Might pop into Briscoes on a 50% sale day. Have now stocked up on 3 packs of mat pads to keep me going (and now DH knows what they look like and where they are in the supermarket so he can go buy more if I need them!) and BF pads. Will definitely nab whatever I can from the hospital. It's my tax dollars after all!!!