Soooo, I'm writing an article for a pregnancy/parenting magazine about how people in different cultures celebrate new babies (either before birth, as in the typical Western baby shower, or afterwards). And I was wondering if anyone here had any interesting traditions to share. :)
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One I've discovered so far and really love is the Dutch tradition of announcing the baby's birth and sex at the same time, by sending out cookies decorated with pink or blue sprinkles. We found out (and told) the sex of our last baby ahead of time, but I've been thinking that next time I might go for a surprise again. And I love to bake. :p So I'm keeping this one in mind! A friend of mine whose husband is Dutch (although she's Kiwi and they live here in NZ) did this with her last baby.
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I also found out that many cultures have a taboo about celebrating the baby before the birth - the idea, I assume, being to hold off on the cupcakes until they know mother and baby got through labour OK, which is sensible if slightly pessimistic. I quite like the idea of having a post-baby "meet the baby" party in lieu of a pre-baby baby shower, but I suppose the logistics could be an issue (plus the whole germy-people-wanting-to-hold-the-newborn thing, if that sort of thing irks you).
