Getting ready for a baby involves a few practical arrangements: learning about birth and newborn care, setting up a safe place to sleep, organising the journey home and finding people who can help afterwards. You can take these one at a time.
You may feel excited, uncertain, overwhelmed or a mixture of all three. There is no particular way you are supposed to feel, and you do not need a finished nursery to begin caring for your baby.
Find out what to expect
Ask your midwife or maternity service about antenatal classes. Look for sessions that cover labour, pain-relief choices, caesarean birth, recovery, feeding and everyday newborn care. A class is also a chance to ask about the hospital or birth centre where you plan to give birth.
If you have a partner or another support person, consider going together. Ask about online or individual options if group classes do not suit you. Book ahead, as availability and timing vary between services.
Keep a short list of questions for your appointments. You might want to know who to call if you think labour has started, which symptoms need prompt assessment and what support is available when you go home. Your own maternity team’s advice should guide these decisions.
Talk through your birth preferences
A birth plan can be a simple record of what matters to you: who you would like present, how you prefer to receive information and what you would like to try for comfort or pain relief. Discuss it with your care team before labour, including how decisions will be explained if circumstances change.
Share the practical details with your support person too. Knowing when you would like quiet, reassurance or help asking a question can be useful preparation. Plans can change during birth, and appropriate medical care may be needed to protect you or your baby.
Prepare for feeding without needing every answer
Bring your feeding questions to your midwife. If you would like to breastfeed, ask what help is available with positioning, attachment and early difficulties. If you plan to use formula, ask about choosing an appropriate infant formula and preparing feeds safely. This is a useful conversation to have before buying equipment.
Find out who you can contact after discharge, such as your maternity service, child and family health nurse or a lactation consultant. You can learn and ask for help as you go.
Set up the essentials at home
Make room for your baby to sleep in their own cot or bassinet in your bedroom. Red Nose recommends room-sharing with a separate, safe sleep space for at least the first six months. Put your baby on their back for every sleep, keep their head and face uncovered, and keep pillows, soft toys, cot bumpers and loose bedding out of the sleep space. Follow the full Red Nose recommendations.
Check the cot or bassinet’s safety information, mattress requirements and assembly instructions. Position it away from cords, blinds and heaters. The ACCC cot guide is useful when checking new or second-hand equipment.
Put changing and washing supplies where you can reach them easily. Keep a hand on your baby on a raised change table or in the bath, and take them with you if you need to step away. Our new baby supplies checklist will help you keep purchases manageable.
Organise birth-day logistics
Confirm any hospital or birth-centre booking paperwork, and keep your maternity records and essential documents together. Check the route, parking and which entrance to use, including after hours. If you or your support person will take leave from work, confirm the arrangements and who to contact if the timing changes.
Save the maternity unit’s contact number, check how to get there and arrange care for any children or pets. Use our hospital bag checklist to gather what you need.
If the journey home will be by car, fit an approved rear-facing child restraint suitable for your newborn and learn how to use it before the birth. Ask an authorised fitter for help if needed. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby has car-seat guidance and fitting-service links.
Make a plan for help after birth
Think about the ordinary jobs that still need doing while you recover and get to know your baby. Who could bring a meal, collect groceries, walk the dog or look after an older child? Specific requests can be easier for others to act on than a general offer of help.
You can also decide how you want to handle visitors and share that with the people close to you. Leave room to change your mind once you are home.
Before leaving hospital or birth-centre care, check the follow-up plan for you and your baby and who to call with concerns. If you need support with preparing for parenthood, speak with your midwife or GP. In Australia, Pregnancy, Birth and Baby also provides guidance from maternal child health nurses on 1800 882 436.