Planning Your Birth Announcement
It’s an exciting time, the moment you’ve been waiting for and planning for over 9 months has arrived and your little one is here!
You will no doubt been keen to share the news with your friends and families, but be a bit puzzled about what the general etiquette might be for your birth announcement. How should you tell people, when should you tell them and what information should you tell them?
Below we cover these questions and a few more to help you navigate this exciting time.
When should I send the announcement?
This depends entirely on you and your own timeline. Some parents like to have a few days of privacy with their new one before sending out the announcement and start dealing with the floods of messages, congratulations and requests to meet their new baby. Some parents announce straight away, even during the labour that the baby is on the way and share photos straight from the hospital with friends and family!
It all comes down to personal preference and your birth announcement should not be a stressful experience!
Depending on how you’ve decided to announce, you might send a text with a photo to your close friends and families to let them know your baby has arrived and a more public email, paper announcement or social media post to share with your wider circle of friends and family later. If you’re planning on an email or social media post, you could prep this and save it ready to send when you feel you want to – that way you only have to hit ‘send’ and it’s done!
What information should I include?
Think about what you would ask other parents when finding out about their new baby and use this as a general guideline. People generally like to know the key details such as:
- A Photo – many people include a newborn photo with their announcement
- Baby’s Gender – many babies look the same and even if you’ve let people know what you’re expecting, it’s a good idea to include this in the formal announcement
- Baby’s name and parents names
- The weight and length of your baby – these are normally included and provide a good indication that your baby has arrived in good health
- Birth Location
- Date and Time of Birth
- A link to social media or a special announcement website for more photos
If you’ve had twins – or more! – you can decide whether you want to do an announcement for each baby separately, or include them on the same announcement.
Most birth announcements are intended as a snapshot, so you don’t need to go overboard on detail, just enough to let everyone know that your little one has arrived safe and sound. A birth announcement is also a good way to let everyone know that mum and baby are healthy and doing well.
Who should I send it to?
Again, this is something that is entirely up to you as the parents and who you want to know the information. Think about the ways you want to let extended friends and family know about the arrival of your new baby and consider who would find it meaningful in receiving a formal birth announcement.
Many parents now-a-days place their birth announcements on social media, and save a formal paper or email announcement for family and close, personal friends. Some parents only announce on social media and personally call or message close relatives. There really is no wrong or right way to go about this, just think about who matters to you and who would be overjoyed to receive your birth announcement.
Should I post the birth announcement on social media?
Many parents find social media a quick and easy way to announce the birth of their newborn – they can let everyone they know that their new baby has arrived and it can save the time and effort of going through and deciding who to contact personally.
That said, we all know that some social media is not entirely private and we probably all have a few people on our ‘friends’ list that we’ve forgotten about and might no longer want to have access to specific details about our lives. Some things to consider before posting:
- Photos of your newborn – use photos of your baby once they have been cleaned and are wrapped up. If you have other children, include them in the photo too.
- Include formal details – but you can a bit more of a story to how you announce them on social media.
- Privacy – remind friends and family not to share your posts if you’re concerned about privacy. If you’d prefer to keep photos private, consider creating a ‘private’ group on Facebook and only invite those you trust to it.
It’s a good idea for you and your partner to discuss how you feel about posting your birth announcement on social media and what you think is the right thing to do for you both. In some cases, one parent might post for the two of you, just a simple message to say the baby has arrived and everyone is healthy. Otherwise you might choose to share a photo and include full details as mentioned above. Posting on social media is also a great way to let people know if you want some time alone over the next few days and when you’re thinking of accepting visitors – it all depends on what you want.
Do what feels right you both as new parents and you’ll feel more relaxed about the whole thing.
What if my baby is unwell?
If your baby has arrived unwell or with an unexpected medical condition, you might not feel like an announcement is appropriate, but just because things may not have gone exactly as planned doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still celebrate your newborn’s arrival.
All of the above advice still stands, and you should do what feels right for you as parents. You can share the news of your arrival any way that you feel is appropriate, and then decide to add additional information in a personal email, message or text if you want close friends and family to know what you are/have been going through with your new little one.
If it is the case that something unexpected has happened, you will need all the support you can get and letting people know about it is a good way to ensure that they are aware and can offer you any help, support and love you need.
Example wording for your birth announcement
Below are a few examples of how other families have worded their birth announcements to help you with some ideas when writing your own!
Traditional Birth Announcements
Angela and John Parks
are happy to announce the arrival of
Alex John Parks
August 14, 2017
3.2 kg & 17 inches
Or
Introducing
Abigail Louise Jones
Born: July 28th, 2017
At: 10.32am
Weighing: 6 lbs. 11 oz.
Love her parents,
Mark & Louise Jones
Informal Birth Announcements
We are delighted to announce little bundle of joy has arrived!
Angela, John and big sister Katie welcome little
are ecstatic to welcome little
Alex John
Born on the 14th August weighing a whooping 7 pounds, 2 ounces
Or
Mark & Louise are overjoyed to tell you we welcomed
Abigail Louise Jones
Into the world on the 28th July, just before 11am
Weighing just 3.4 kgs
We’d love for you to join us in celebrating her arrival.