Getting Ready for Baby: A Pregnancy-Week Checklist

Health and appointments

• Ideally before conception: start a prenatal vitamin with at least 400 mcg folic acid — the neural tube closes around 4 weeks after conception, often before pregnancy is known. If already pregnant, start as soon as possible.
• Weeks 6-12: choose an OB or midwife; if not already taking one, start a prenatal vitamin.
• Weeks 18-22: anatomy scan. Weeks 24-28: glucose screening.
• Weeks 27-36: Tdap vaccine, every pregnancy. Weeks 32-36 (during September-January): RSV vaccine, or plan nirsevimab for the baby. No repeat dose is needed in a later pregnancy if you had one before.
• Around weeks 28-32: tour and pre-register at the hospital or birth center, pick a pediatrician (they see the baby in the first days), sign up for classes (see below), and write a birth plan. By week 36: know the signs of labor and when to call.

Take a class in person

• We recommend taking at least one in-person class before the baby arrives. Reading here is a great start, but it isn't a substitute for practicing with a real instructor and a doll in your hands.
• The classic ones: newborn care (diapering, bathing, swaddling, soothing), childbirth prep, breastfeeding or infant feeding, and infant CPR and choking first aid.
• Many hospitals and birth centers offer them, often free or low cost, and some insurance plans cover them. Book around weeks 28-32 so there's time before the due date, and bring your partner or whoever will help at home.

Money and paperwork

• Early: check what insurance covers for birth; plan parental leave (FMLA and any state paid leave).
• Mid-pregnancy: a first-year budget, emergency fund, term life insurance, wills and a named guardian, updated beneficiaries.
• Later: Dependent Care FSA if offered; order a breast pump through insurance.
• At and after birth: request the baby's Social Security number on the birth certificate form, add the baby to health insurance (usually within 30 days), and consider a 529 plan.

Nursery, gear and home

• Around week 20: start the registry. By weeks 30-34: have the gear, clothes, feeding and diaper basics. The full shopping list, with quantities and what to skip, is in "What to Buy Before the Baby".
• An infant car seat, installed and checked by about week 34-36 (free checks are often available).
• Wash baby clothes and bedding with a fragrance-free detergent.
• Home: anchor furniture to walls, test smoke and CO detectors, set the water heater to 120°F or lower, stock freezer meals, arrange pet care, set up a meal train.

Hospital bag and postpartum (around weeks 34-36)

• IDs, insurance card, forms, the birth plan, a going-home outfit, comfortable clothes, toiletries, a long phone charger, snacks, your own pillow.
• Pads, peri bottle, stool softener and pain relief (ask your doctor), a visitor plan, a night-shift plan, the postpartum checkup booked, and the 988 or Postpartum Support International number saved.