I heard of a hospital that gave a "gift pack" that included a box of
spaghetti and a jar of good spaghetti sauce, with instructions to the father
or whoever the mom was going home with to make dinner for her. Seems to me
we could be on to something with this idea; a good gift pack should include
not only the "stuff", but should reinforce the idea that mom needs care and
support. Granola bars! Boxes of raisins and apricots! Juice! Not just
"Tucks" or hemorrhoid cream and the other quasi-medical stuff (thermometers,
pads, junk that does a lot more for the manufacturers and advertisers than
for the new baby, who after all doesn't actually need much of anything).
Even really poor folks get a lot of junky unnecessary stuff when they have a
baby. (Starting with those crummy ugly "diaper bags" from the formula
companies...) My son is 21 years old, and I still have a can of baby powder
I was given in a gift pack when he was born (maybe I should use it now for
some of those "postpartum discomforts", like hot flashes!) And never mind
the Astroglide or whatever it's called - include some condoms!!! (But
package them for the woman only, with firm instructions that she alone can
decide when it's "time" to use them...)

At our local hospital, every newborn goes home with a nice board book - a
local family literacy group got the grant for this from a local bank.
They're real, nice, attractive books from a regular bookstore, not ads
disguised as books, or stupid comic books - they're the same books you and I
buy for our babies. I think that's important!

Moms with new babies really need to have phone service at first - and of
course it's those families at highest risk who are least likely to have
functioning phone service. What about a service organization offering to pay
for phone service for a specific short period (say, 4 wks.) for those
families that need it, with very clear and simple info about how to contact
the necessary person to get it in place? It wouldn't be all that expensive,
because most families wouldn't need it and wouldn't "cash in on it", but it
could be a lifesaver for those people that do need it. And very simple info
about car seat loan programs? These exist in many communities, but access to
them can seem overwhelming, and often people who need them don't know how to
get them. And definitely a water bottle for the new mom! That's probably the
easiest and best thing a hospital or birth center could give!