The tennis star posted a message on the site to ask users about their experiences with packing hospital bags for the impending birth.

Serena Williams has asked Reddit users pregnancy advice as she prepares to welcome her first child into the world.

The tennis star - who is expecting her first child with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian - posted a message on the site to ask users about their experiences with packing hospital bags for the impending birth.

She wrote in her post: “1 month before? 6 weeks? 8 weeks? I'm totally stalling. But I have a lot of time still.... I think...

Anything you didn't expect to need that I'll really appreciate having in there? (sic)”

Fans flooded the thread sharing their own experiences.

One wrote: “I didn't even have any to pack, but the hospital had a care package program that patients could get items once a week with various themes. I asked for the one with a sleep mask, chapstick, ear plugs, and a stress ball. I highly recommend all of these things (except maybe the stress ball) for hospital bags!!

“By day three I had gotten an hour of sleep per night, max. There was a light directly over my bed that only dimmed and even when my husband told me to take a nap between feeds I couldn't sleep for all of the hospital noise until I got the kit.”

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old sportswoman previously revealed she thinks her baby will make her a “real woman”.

She said: “I have so much respect for so many women [for giving birth]. I am about to be a real woman now, you know? It's going to be something incredibly impressive to go through ...

“I don't think watching birthing videos helps. I actually think it makes it worse. Having a baby, nothing is guaranteed.”