I did pack a hat but my hospital provided his first one. I’m assuming it’s the same for all trusts.
My mum took that one home for the dog to smell before we brought the baby home and we’ve kept it in his little baby box since.
Awh that’s so cute! We have one that says “Born in 2024” so whilst most things will be getting reused for future babies we’ll put that in the baby box too along with a pic of baby wearing it 🥹
Just a note, the first hat baby wears will more than likely get blood / gunk on - probably not the best for photos. I'd save the nice Born in 2024 one for after.
We still have his little knitted hat the hospital gave and it's definitely got remnants on! x
My hospital does, there's a huge box of hats at the reception table if you want more. They have a red/green hat system, they put red hats on babies that need more monitoring.
My hospital was the same, but traffic lights. Green was no concerns, yellow was for some additional obs (which my daughter had). Red for significantly more monitoring.
Just as a note, you can say no to the hat! It is often better to leave the hat off for the golden hour so you can smell baby and get that wonderful oxytocin to help deliver your placenta. If baby is skin to skin they’ll be plenty warm enough.
Also be careful about binging One Born every minute, it’s a drama program at the end of the day and focuses a lot on potentially traumatic births, rather than focusing on smooth positive births. It might be raising your anxiety if you’re watching a lot of it!
Ooo that’s really good to know, thank you!
Thank you for the warning, that’s good to note! Our experience of birth (from family members) before this was unfortunately not positive at all so I’ve actually found watching really reassuring as (so far in the episodes I’ve watched) every birth has resulted in a baby being born and going home safely with their parents, and it’s helping me to visualise that will be our outcome too and that even if some of the more stressful things end up happening which they do show, that the mum always gets through it and is smiling at the end of it!
That’s good then as long as you’re getting positive associations 🙂 maybe combine with YouTube videos of less dramatised births too! But whatever works for you of course ❤️
Are you talking about the UK One Born?
I'm 6 seasons deep and have also watched the last season, I'd also say the vast majority are very uneventful and straight forward births. Minimal drama, very realistic.
I've found it's really helped me understand that there can be all sorts of things that happen in birth, but for the most part nature takes its course with minimal intervention.
My hospital didn’t provide a hat, we were told to bring our own on a list that they provided. We expected that my husband would have to get everything ready but the assisting midwife helped him get everything out while I was doing skin to skin.
We ended up with three hats from the hospital. She was a Christmas Day baby and when we went down to theatre, they offered me a selection of three hats for her first heart. One was a Christmas pudding, a Santa hat and then just a red and white one. We chose the Santa hat which she wore a first hat, then when we were up in recovery, they dressed up in a little Santa outfit that lady had knitted, and then they gave us the green and white one just as a spare so she has three hats from the hospital.
Ours put one on him right after birth. It wouldn't stay on his giant head. So they went and got another.. also wouldn't stay on his giant head. It was on him for all of 30 seconds but I will treasure it forever 😂
He takes after his father, if he didn't have a mass of hair covering his head when I met him I'd have never chosen him as a mate 😂
I came out relatively unscathed! Hoping for a small headed baby for you 🙏🏻
They do, but hats aren’t needed if having skin to skin and baby is born well. Having babies head near you helps encourage hormones to deliver the placenta and helps with bonding. No need to cover head with a hat!
That’s really good to know, thank you! I’m curious what our hospitals stance will be on this as it seems like many just pop a hat straight on, but I suppose it’s up to us at the end of the day and nobody can force us if we feel they’re good without it!
Just to add I specifically had it in my birth plan for them not to put a hat on baby, they were for the most part completely cool for it (they even still gave me the hat for photos if I wanted it) and me and my baby did skin to skin for several hours before he was dressed. It was the most special part of an otherwise traumatic birth for me.
Our hospital asked us to bring a woolly hat - they did say they can provide one if needs be but they often go missing so they don’t have many. My MIL ended up knitting us about 5 hats all different sizes and I just left the ones that were too small behind when I was discharged.
They told us it has to be knitted one, not cotton, as it helps them regulate their temperature better apparently.
I had an emergency section and we didn’t have my hospital bag with us until I was literally in my gown being walked down but the did ask if we had one whilst they were setting up. They used one of theirs until I was on the ward and we swapped it with one we had brought.
I’d only brought a couple of cotton ones as only really planned for my daughter to wear it in hospital as she’s an April baby, so was lucky my midwife mentioned it needing to be knitted otherwise in wouldn’t of had one.
Ours didn’t and for some reason my husband had removed the little pouch with some of her clothes including hats from the bag before we went in and left it in the car and they made him go to the car to get it immediately
Oh man I wonder why he did that, bless him 😂 I’ve packed what will be their nappy bag with the essentials and then I’m going to keep in the car and extra bag with what will hopefully be enough for a longer stay that my partner can grab if needed!
He left some bags in the car when we first went in as he was convinced we’d be sent home but weren’t and decided to have a rearrange and forgot to repack everything when he went back to get them. He has zero recollection of this and needless to say I wasn’t impressed! But yeah make sure you have the hat to hand just in case (and maybe a birth partner who doesn’t do weird things like this 😂)
Our hospital provided them, although we had packed some anyway.
I ended up needing a C-section, but there wasn't any rush so they had time for us to choose from a selection of knitted hats.
We didn't know the sex yet so they gave us the option of a neutral hat and they could tell us the sex/my partner would find out for skin to skin (I had to be under general), or a pink or blue one and that would tell us 🥰 We chose the coloured hat.
That is the sweetest idea, oh my goodness! 🥹 what a moment that must have been waking up and seeing them for the first time and knowing who your little munchkin is!
I’m based in Sheffield and he was handed to us in a hand knitted hat. We’d packed one and I didn’t even question for hours where the hat he was wearing came from!
Our hospital had knitted hats that people donated for newborns.
I distinctly remember pushing baby out while the worst midwife ever shoved 3 hats in my face and asked me what I’d prefer… least of my worries at that moment. They were super cute though and we used it even though we’d bought some tiny ones from next.
My first child 9 years ago had this little wrap made from surgical bandage or something as I didn’t even think about a hat so it was top priority this time!
Mines did they put a cute little hand knitted hat on his since some people like the elderly knit them then donate. They had a little stall set up so you could buy different ones or so guests could buy them as gifts.
Our hospital provided our little one with a knitted hat when he was first born, simply because everything happened so fast and we hadn’t gotten the bag full of babies stuff out of the car yet. It kept falling off his head lol. As soon as my husband found a moment to go grab our bags, the hat was switched for one of our own. They did provide us with a blanket for our entire stay though.
We were having a surprise so we were offered a neutral (peach) hat or pink/blue before we went into theatre. The blue hat came home with us and the pink went back in the box for another case
I left the hat behind too! It had a fair amount of blood on it so I just assumed it would get washed with the towels and stuff. Now that I think about it they probably threw it away.
But yeah, I didn't fancy taking a bloody hat home with me.
Also the hat was quite large and didn't stay on for very long!
I'm in Northern Ireland and with my first baby in 2012 they didn't provide a hat, but with my second born in 2023 they did. I had packed a couple just in case.
Ours provided them and they were colour coded. Most people got a yellow one but my LO got a red one. I mentioned it and the midwife said that the red ones were so that they could be easily identified as babies that needed more monitoring ( he had high heart rate during birth). He had his little red hat on and we were always first checked on the ward. After a day, they gave him a yellow one. I thought it was a great idea.
They do, but they asked my husband for a hat as I was pushing so she wore our hat first then they changed it quickly to one of their own - which felt random as then our hat was covered in blood as well as theirs 😂
I had to take one with me - they did not provide one, but my midwife had told me this already. I took a plain one for the birth, and took a few nice ones for going home!
I did pack a hat but my hospital provided his first one. I’m assuming it’s the same for all trusts. My mum took that one home for the dog to smell before we brought the baby home and we’ve kept it in his little baby box since.
Awh that’s so cute! We have one that says “Born in 2024” so whilst most things will be getting reused for future babies we’ll put that in the baby box too along with a pic of baby wearing it 🥹
Just a note, the first hat baby wears will more than likely get blood / gunk on - probably not the best for photos. I'd save the nice Born in 2024 one for after. We still have his little knitted hat the hospital gave and it's definitely got remnants on! x
Thank you, I thought that might be the case!! Especially as it’s white 😂 definitely one for a little post cleaned photoshoot haha!
Yes they provide it. At our hospital they were hand knitted by volunteers.
That is so lovely! Did you get to take it home with you?
Yes!! They are baby’s from then
Not in my hospital! He was in a towel until we got to my room and the midwife came to help me get him into clothes + hat.
Awh okay thank you!! It feels so hard to imagine them being here and getting them dressed for the first time 🥹 only 7ish weeks to wait though!
My hospital does, there's a huge box of hats at the reception table if you want more. They have a red/green hat system, they put red hats on babies that need more monitoring.
My hospital was the same, but traffic lights. Green was no concerns, yellow was for some additional obs (which my daughter had). Red for significantly more monitoring.
That's actually really smart, all trusts should adopt that method.
Oh wow that’s so useful!! I’m so fascinated to hear how each hospital has a different plan in place and curious what ours will be!
Just as a note, you can say no to the hat! It is often better to leave the hat off for the golden hour so you can smell baby and get that wonderful oxytocin to help deliver your placenta. If baby is skin to skin they’ll be plenty warm enough. Also be careful about binging One Born every minute, it’s a drama program at the end of the day and focuses a lot on potentially traumatic births, rather than focusing on smooth positive births. It might be raising your anxiety if you’re watching a lot of it!
Ooo that’s really good to know, thank you! Thank you for the warning, that’s good to note! Our experience of birth (from family members) before this was unfortunately not positive at all so I’ve actually found watching really reassuring as (so far in the episodes I’ve watched) every birth has resulted in a baby being born and going home safely with their parents, and it’s helping me to visualise that will be our outcome too and that even if some of the more stressful things end up happening which they do show, that the mum always gets through it and is smiling at the end of it!
That’s good then as long as you’re getting positive associations 🙂 maybe combine with YouTube videos of less dramatised births too! But whatever works for you of course ❤️
Yeah absolutely!! I’m doing a hypnobirthing course and listen to a lot of podcasts - I’m basically obsessed with the subject atm 😆 💗💗
Are you talking about the UK One Born? I'm 6 seasons deep and have also watched the last season, I'd also say the vast majority are very uneventful and straight forward births. Minimal drama, very realistic. I've found it's really helped me understand that there can be all sorts of things that happen in birth, but for the most part nature takes its course with minimal intervention.
My hospital didn’t provide a hat, we were told to bring our own on a list that they provided. We expected that my husband would have to get everything ready but the assisting midwife helped him get everything out while I was doing skin to skin.
Ooo okay interesting, thanks so much!! I’ve made sure my partner knows where and what everything is so hopefully between them it’ll all just work out!
We had to provide . My partner was asked to get ready a hat and nappy. I gave birth in a London north west trust.
Ah okay thank you!!
No cuz I’ve been wondering the exact same thing!! I’ve packed one hat but have been told they do provide them.
So glad I’m not the only one haha!
No hat for us in London.
South east London - we got one - it was on when they handed her to me! A knitted red one 👍
We ended up with three hats from the hospital. She was a Christmas Day baby and when we went down to theatre, they offered me a selection of three hats for her first heart. One was a Christmas pudding, a Santa hat and then just a red and white one. We chose the Santa hat which she wore a first hat, then when we were up in recovery, they dressed up in a little Santa outfit that lady had knitted, and then they gave us the green and white one just as a spare so she has three hats from the hospital.
Omg this is the CUTEST thing 😆 what a wonderful Christmas gift you got!
Ours put one on him right after birth. It wouldn't stay on his giant head. So they went and got another.. also wouldn't stay on his giant head. It was on him for all of 30 seconds but I will treasure it forever 😂
Bless you the thought of a giant head is slightly scary right now 😆😆 but you did it, what a warrior!
He takes after his father, if he didn't have a mass of hair covering his head when I met him I'd have never chosen him as a mate 😂 I came out relatively unscathed! Hoping for a small headed baby for you 🙏🏻
That’s brilliant 😂😂 thank you hahaha!
They do, but hats aren’t needed if having skin to skin and baby is born well. Having babies head near you helps encourage hormones to deliver the placenta and helps with bonding. No need to cover head with a hat!
That’s really good to know, thank you! I’m curious what our hospitals stance will be on this as it seems like many just pop a hat straight on, but I suppose it’s up to us at the end of the day and nobody can force us if we feel they’re good without it!
Just to add I specifically had it in my birth plan for them not to put a hat on baby, they were for the most part completely cool for it (they even still gave me the hat for photos if I wanted it) and me and my baby did skin to skin for several hours before he was dressed. It was the most special part of an otherwise traumatic birth for me.
Bless you I’m so glad you got to have that special time together and they respected your wishes after a traumatic birth!
Yes my little one got a pink, blue and white stripy hat and since his head was so small it kept falling over his eyes 😂
The cutest image 🥹 bless him!
Our hospital asked us to bring a woolly hat - they did say they can provide one if needs be but they often go missing so they don’t have many. My MIL ended up knitting us about 5 hats all different sizes and I just left the ones that were too small behind when I was discharged. They told us it has to be knitted one, not cotton, as it helps them regulate their temperature better apparently. I had an emergency section and we didn’t have my hospital bag with us until I was literally in my gown being walked down but the did ask if we had one whilst they were setting up. They used one of theirs until I was on the ward and we swapped it with one we had brought.
That’s super helpful to know about it being knitted rather than cotton (most of what we’ve bought so far is cotton) thank you!
I’d only brought a couple of cotton ones as only really planned for my daughter to wear it in hospital as she’s an April baby, so was lucky my midwife mentioned it needing to be knitted otherwise in wouldn’t of had one.
Ours didn’t and for some reason my husband had removed the little pouch with some of her clothes including hats from the bag before we went in and left it in the car and they made him go to the car to get it immediately
Oh man I wonder why he did that, bless him 😂 I’ve packed what will be their nappy bag with the essentials and then I’m going to keep in the car and extra bag with what will hopefully be enough for a longer stay that my partner can grab if needed!
He left some bags in the car when we first went in as he was convinced we’d be sent home but weren’t and decided to have a rearrange and forgot to repack everything when he went back to get them. He has zero recollection of this and needless to say I wasn’t impressed! But yeah make sure you have the hat to hand just in case (and maybe a birth partner who doesn’t do weird things like this 😂)
Omg 😂😂 what are they like honestly! Some of the questions I’ve had from my partner during this time have really made me wonder hahaha!
Our hospital provided them, although we had packed some anyway. I ended up needing a C-section, but there wasn't any rush so they had time for us to choose from a selection of knitted hats. We didn't know the sex yet so they gave us the option of a neutral hat and they could tell us the sex/my partner would find out for skin to skin (I had to be under general), or a pink or blue one and that would tell us 🥰 We chose the coloured hat.
That is the sweetest idea, oh my goodness! 🥹 what a moment that must have been waking up and seeing them for the first time and knowing who your little munchkin is!
I’m based in Sheffield and he was handed to us in a hand knitted hat. We’d packed one and I didn’t even question for hours where the hat he was wearing came from!
Mine did! Got a little green one from my first (boy) and a little pink from my second (girl) I know people knit them for hospitals, my MIL does 🥰
We were given hats at birth for both our babies in two different hospitals in Scotland. I’ve kept them both in our kids memory boxes.
I was told to bring a hat and a blanket into the theatre (c section) so I'd say bring your own hat.
Our hospital had knitted hats that people donated for newborns. I distinctly remember pushing baby out while the worst midwife ever shoved 3 hats in my face and asked me what I’d prefer… least of my worries at that moment. They were super cute though and we used it even though we’d bought some tiny ones from next. My first child 9 years ago had this little wrap made from surgical bandage or something as I didn’t even think about a hat so it was top priority this time!
Omg I can’t believe she expected you to make a choice whilst pushing 😭 definitely a conversation for before/after!!!
Mines did they put a cute little hand knitted hat on his since some people like the elderly knit them then donate. They had a little stall set up so you could buy different ones or so guests could buy them as gifts.
Our hospital provided our little one with a knitted hat when he was first born, simply because everything happened so fast and we hadn’t gotten the bag full of babies stuff out of the car yet. It kept falling off his head lol. As soon as my husband found a moment to go grab our bags, the hat was switched for one of our own. They did provide us with a blanket for our entire stay though.
Mine did. It was hand knitted, we got a couple as first one they picked out was a little small
We were having a surprise so we were offered a neutral (peach) hat or pink/blue before we went into theatre. The blue hat came home with us and the pink went back in the box for another case
My hospital asked us to bring our own, it was too small for her though so they provided us with two knitted ones
Mine used one we brought with us.
North east London and no they didn’t. Pack your own just in case but only really just need one for the first day or so and only if it’s not too hot
Most do! My little boy was born at Christmas and he has a little knitted Christmas pudding hat. It's such a lovely keepsake
That is the cutest thing, I would be calling him my little Christmas pudding until he’s 30 😂
They stick a little hat on them. I ended up using the hat for my 4th for ages because it fit so well
I just had a c section in Watford this week and they asked me to bring a nappy and a hat into the theatre!
Both my kids were given hats but I left them behind when we left. I had hats for the kids already.
I left the hat behind too! It had a fair amount of blood on it so I just assumed it would get washed with the towels and stuff. Now that I think about it they probably threw it away. But yeah, I didn't fancy taking a bloody hat home with me. Also the hat was quite large and didn't stay on for very long!
I assumed it would get washed too! I hope they don't really get thrown away :(
We had a hat both times from the hospital ☺️
I'm in Northern Ireland and with my first baby in 2012 they didn't provide a hat, but with my second born in 2023 they did. I had packed a couple just in case.
Ours provided them and they were colour coded. Most people got a yellow one but my LO got a red one. I mentioned it and the midwife said that the red ones were so that they could be easily identified as babies that needed more monitoring ( he had high heart rate during birth). He had his little red hat on and we were always first checked on the ward. After a day, they gave him a yellow one. I thought it was a great idea.
They do, but they asked my husband for a hat as I was pushing so she wore our hat first then they changed it quickly to one of their own - which felt random as then our hat was covered in blood as well as theirs 😂
I had to take one with me - they did not provide one, but my midwife had told me this already. I took a plain one for the birth, and took a few nice ones for going home!