Here’s All the Free Stuff You Get From the Hospital After Giving Birth

One thing that can make the new parent transition easier? Free baby stuff! And if you’re giving birth in a hospital, there’s even more good news: they’ll provide some of the essentials for both your newborn and your recovering body.

What you’ll get varies depending on which hospital you’re giving birth at, but in general, you can expect many of the newborn diapering and postpartum care basics. One thing to keep in mind is that “free” is also relative to your specific insurance coverage. It’s worth reviewing your plan's benefits before your due date to avoid any post-discharge surprises—but there's no need to hold back on taking the supplies your care team provides. (Pro tip: It’s also a good idea to ask what you can expect to receive during your hospital tour!)

We asked Babylist parents in a newsletter poll—who’ve all welcomed babies pretty recently—what freebies they were most excited about during their hospital stay. Most of the items fell into the two categories mentioned above, which is helpful to know when you’re packing you and your baby’s hospital bags.

Most of these items will already be in the recovery room when you get there (where you’ll spend the rest of your time after delivery). You can expect things like diapers, wipes, maxi pads and possibly ice packs and witch hazel pads, and your care team will gladly refill them when you start running low. But other items you’ll need to ask for specifically—if you want things like formula samples or donor milk, a breast pump, feeding syringes or hydrogel nipple pads, flag down your nurse or lactation consultant to have them delivered to your room.

Here are some of the top hospital freebies you may get from your hospital when you give birth, including what Babylist parents were most excited about.

Free Newborn Products

New parents have enough to pack, plan and deal with when giving birth, and most hospitals will provide the basics like newborn or size 1 diapers and small packs of wipes during your stay. You may also get a diaper cream sample, though most babies won’t need any within the first few days of life. And the best part is, you can keep asking for more supplies as you go through them. 

A few other baby care items parents frequently get from the hospital include:

• Diapers

• Wipes

• Diaper cream

• Baby comb 

• Nasal bulb

• Petroleum jelly (for diaper rash and circumcision healing)

• Sterile gauze (for circumcision aftercare)

• Digital thermometer (usually a rectal/armpit one)

• Swaddle blanket

• Baby beanie

• Pacifier

Free Postpartum Recovery Products

Baby isn’t the only one who'll be sent home with free stuff. Arguably even more helpful than some of the things above (not counting diapers and wipes, of course) are postpartum recovery essentials for you.

Here are a few more freebies you’ll likely receive from your hospital:

• Maxi pads

• Disposable mesh underwear

• Pain killers (usually ibuprofen)

• Perineal numbing spray

• Witch hazel pads

• Ice packs

• Peri bottle

• Heating pads

• Stool softeners

• Anti-slip socks

• Inflatable donut pillow

• Large incontinence bed pads

• Recovery/nursing gown (for use while in the hospital; you can’t take it home)

• C-section-specific recovery items

Free Nursing Products

Feeding your baby is one of the main things you’ll be doing before you’re discharged from the hospital, and no matter what each individual experience looks like, the hospital will likely give you formula samples, bottles, and a few other feeding supplies if you need them.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Hospital-grade electric breast pump (for use while in the hospital; you can’t take it home)

• Hand pump

• Breast pump attachments

• Nipple cream

• Hydrogel pads (cool, soothing gel pads for sore nipples)

• Nipple shields and latch assists

Hospital Freebies Parents Loved Most

Of all the free stuff Babylist parents got from the hospital, here are the things they were most excited about.

🩸 Mesh Postpartum Undies + Maxi Pads

There’s long been a debate about whether those disposable hospital underwear actually live up to the hype—and Babylist parents seem to think they do. “The disposable underwear! Sexy? No, but comfy, and so necessary to deal with postpartum bleeding,” one parent wrote in the poll. Another said, “The disposable underwear!!! For some reason, it can’t be replicated (IMO) on the consumer market.”

This is good news for your hospital bag packing list. Disposable postpartum undies and those giant hospital-grade maxi pads are something virtually every hospital will give postpartum patients, and tend to take up a bunch of space in your bag. (Although, if you have really strong preferences, feel free to stick a few pairs of disposable period diapers in your bag just in case the hospital’s don’t work for you). 

🧊 Padsicles

Pain-relief was also another hot category of freebies parents mentioned. They wrote things like, “those gigantic icy maxi pads,” and “Tucks witch hazel pads [were] so cooling and relieving down there.” Another said, “Popsicle pads—my discharging nurse hooked me up 😍.”

🫧 Peri Bottle

You will also likely receive a peri bottle (though if it’s like the one I got at the hospital, the curved ones are much more convenient). But they still appreciated getting one during their stay, one sharing how it continued to come in handy once they went home: “So helpful during bath time when washing babies hair. I use the peri bottle to rinse to avoid water all over baby's face.”

🤱🏼 Manual Breast Pump

Hand pumps were the most mentioned hospital freebie in the breastfeeding category. Here’s what a few parents had to say:

"A hand pump (breast pump) because I wanted to pump just the slightly bit when my milk came in and that was the simplest pump to learn how to use for the first time and very controllable. I think I would have freaked out having to use a full-on regular pump that early!”

“The Medela Hand Pump! Very helpful the first few weeks as a supplement for sleepy nursing babies, but now (six months in) I keep it in my car as back up in case something happens to my electric portable pump!”

“Medela hand pump! Works great, easy to use and is very convenient when I’m not at home with the baby to relieve my breasts.”

🤱🏾Nipple Soothers

Products to make breastfeeding more comfortable (and soothe sore nipples) were also a winner. “The handfuls of Medela hydrogel pads!! I did not realize how expensive they are but wow did they help me get through the early stages of breastfeeding when my nipples were begging me to stop,” one wrote in our poll. They also appreciated the little samples of nipple cream as their nipples adjusted to their new role.

🍼 Baby Formula Samples

In addition to the above, formula samples were another item for baby that many parents were grateful to take home. “Formula samples truly saved us the first night home from the hospital! Baby was hungry and my milk hadn’t come in yet,” one Babylist parent shared. 

Feeding can be challenging and unexpected, especially if your baby has health concerns after birth. “My baby had to have some supplemented formula white being treated for jaundice and I’m pretty sure the nurses gave us as much as they could. Luckily we haven’t had to use it since then but it’s nice to know I have a backup!” another parent said. 

💤 Sleep Sack

While most hospitals will give you those classic swaddle blankets, we were surprised to learn how many parents got an actual sleep sack swaddle from popular brand Halo during their stay. One shared, “Halo SleepSack swaddle! We had no idea how clutch this would be. After we used it once we immediately went online and bought a couple more.”

Another parent wrote, “They gave me two Halo SleepSacks in size small. We hadn’t thought about using sleep sacks but my baby didn't love being swaddled so we started using the sleep sacks as soon as we got home from the hospital and never looked back, just have to up the size [eventually].” You can also expect to get a little hat right after birth and some hospitals give out bodysuits or tiny baby shirts. One parent said the tiny beanie was a “a precious memory.” 

🏆 Hospital Water Cup

Not exactly related to postpartum but still important (and appreciated) was the giant water cup. A bunch of parents mentioned they still use their “souvenir cup” at home. One wrote, “I called it my Big Gulp and it was like my comfort blanket through my hospital time and for weeks after. Plus [it] kept me hydrated!” Another mentioned they use their hospital water cup in the bedroom for overnight sips and leave their Stanley in the living room. 

We also loved what another parent wrote in: “I didn't have a one-handed water bottle pre-baby and had NO IDEA how necessary it is for breastfeeding. My consolation ‘you had a baby!’ water bottle from the hospital was SO HELPFUL in the early breastfeeding days!”

🪣Wash Bin

For a handful of parents, one of the most weirdly useful freebies turned out to be the little plastic bin they received for baby’s first bath, which would later come in handy for other things at home. 

Here’s what a few shared in our poll responses:

“The pink washbasin thing 😂 I used it for so many things: wash my baby, carry my pumping supplies around, wash my pumping supplies, wash bottles, etc.”

“Plastic tub used as a wash basin for all bottles, pump parts and now baby food items.”

“Little plastic bin they used for her first bath—we keep it in the sink and use it for washing bottles and pump parts. Easily the most frequently used item from the hospital!”

“We got a little tub to wash him in when we got home. We still use it to house their bath toys and it’s a nice reminder of those first days.”

“A tub that we can wash bottles in/baby bath in sink. Used it sooooo much for baby bottles.”

“The freebie I'm still using 10 months later is the basin we used for my son's first bath, which has been my dedicated bottle- and pump-parts basin ever since we got home from the hospital.”

🪭 Fan

Postpartum hormone shifts are no joke and they often cause hot flashes and night sweats. If you forget (or didn’t think) to pack a portable fan in your hospital bag, you might be in luck. One parent mentioned they received one from the hospital, “I was so hot from the drugs in the epidural that my nurse brought me a fan. It’s a great fan and I now use it to air out baby girls' diaper rash.”

Note that not every hospital will have all of the above supplies, and the types of supplies and brands will vary based on what the hospital has available.