Birth Announcement Guide & 5 Essential Mid-Pregnancy To-Do’s
16/01/2024
Your life, and that of your partner, is going to change for ever. In a good way, of course.
Therefore, announcing the birth is going to be high up on your agenda, no doubt. After all, giving birth deserves some recognition!
Let’s Start Early
The key – as in almost everything in life – is getting organised. And, if you can, being prepared early. For example, you don’t want to have your baby, and nobody know about it now, do you? Or, just generally, worry about something you’ve not done?
Sorting everything ahead of time makes things easier, enabling you to look forward to the arrival of your little one.
We’ve put together this essential checklist, with top tips and advice to keep you on track; including something you may not yet actively have considered – although as you’re reading our blog, it could well be on your radar – some guidance and food for thought about family cord blood banking, and on stem cell storage in general, also known as stem cell preservation.
How to Plan Your Birth Announcement
It’s worth jotting down a template of sorts; if you’ve elected NOT to know the baby’s sex, you’ve got some still-to-come facts to fill in, and the following will make sure you don’t forget anything:
- Full name – Welcome to the world, (baby name)
- Gender
- Date of birth – day, month, year – maybe the time, too?
- Baby’s weight
- Birth location
- Names of your ultra-proud Mum and Dad, plus your brothers and sisters
If there’s space, depending on the media you’re using, you could even include a photograph.
Where to put the announcement?
Formerly just in newspapers, the answer now is: anywhere you so choose. Social media is of course de rigeur, but email is more private. And, did you know that you can now buy birth announcement stationery in the form of cards? Rather classy, we think.
It’s best to get the good news out before the baby is 3-4 months old, otherwise everyone will know, but not know, if you see what we mean.
There are other ways to get ahead, too:
1. Do Your Research
There’s a plethora of useful information out there, there really is.
From breastfeeding (and why you should do it) through to sharing the parental load, understanding the changes to your body, how to look after yourself – anything and everything.
Forewarned is forearmed. Plus, it gives you an excuse to put your feet up for a good old read.
2. Start Collecting the Things You Will Need for Your Baby
We’ve written about this before in a recent blog, which you can read here. As you’ll see, it’s NOT an extensive list. Buy decent quality things, but don’t go overboard.
Firstly, your baby will grow extremely fast and within what seems like minutes will no longer fit into his or her baby grow. Second, you’ll want to avoid accumulating new- born-related “white elephants”; must-have things that sit around gathering dust that seemed like such a promising idea at the time.
3. Kit Out the Nursery
Now THIS will be a joy, and could bring out your pregnancy nesting instinct.
Again, there’s plenty of advice available. This site is particularly useful:
https://www.johnsonsbaby.co.uk/preparing-for-baby/preparing-a-nursery
4. Make a Birth Plan
Once you go into labour, it will be, to coin a phrase – all systems go. If you have specific wishes about one of the most important days of your life, we’d advise that you document the following:
- Whom you want as your birthing partner
- Pain relief choices
- Music during delivery
- Where you want to give birth
- Special facilities, such as a birthing pool
- What you would like to do immediately after labour. This may include a cup of tea and of course, time with your new born, but the following point could be the most useful one of all:
