These days, people have made an excuse to celebrate any tiny occasion. With pregnancies, there are multiple different announcements, parties, and showers. Now the father is expected to get ‘push presents’ for the mother?
A ‘push present’ or ‘push gift’ is a gift given to a new mother to make them feel special or rewarded for a ‘job well done’ giving birth.
To some, a ‘push present’ is a fun excuse to give a gift. But to others, it’s insulting to reward a mother for doing something as normal as, well, giving life. It can also be disrespectful to mothers who give birth by cesarean.
Women are incredible people and childbirth is inspiring but it’s not exactly something we have control over so it doesn’t seem appropriate to reward us with ‘push presents.’
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Childbirth Is Natural
Giving birth is a natural thing, women have been doing it for thousands of years. Childbirth makes a woman special but probably not to the point of needing to be rewarded with a materialistic gift.
We should jump for joy when someone announces their pregnancy and gives birth, I celebrate that every day but I’m still not for ‘push presents’. It’s incredibly exciting and should be celebrated but maybe not in the way that these ‘push gifts’ are sometimes intended. Did you not expect us to be delivering this child after all these months of being pregnant?
We’re already having baby announcements, getting gifts for being pregnant, having gender reveal parties (which I won’t get into now), having baby sprinkles and baby showers, and receiving gifts left and right for both mom and baby in this new exciting stage of life.
Why are we rewarding women for pushing or delivering their babies? We literally have very little choice, that baby has to come out somehow.
Next, they’ll come up with something like a ‘congrats for putting the bun in the oven’ gift for new dads with successful sperm.
'Push Presents' Are Non Inclusive
Not all women get to push. Plain and simple.
Heck, I’m one of them. I laid in the delivery room, through a full day of contractions, expecting to get to push my baby out and meet him in the most common way known. But my body and my child had different intentions. Instead, I met my baby in a surgical room. It wasn’t what I had planned or expected, but it was the most amazing moment of my life.
‘Push presents’ are not only insulting to women rewarded for pushing but also to those who didn’t have the same experience.
I think it would’ve been really awkward if my husband had gotten me a ‘push present’ and given it to me after my c-section.
Instead, Give A Sentimental Gift Or Just Be Present
No new mother should expect a gift when becoming a mother, other than the birth of their child.
The biggest issue with ‘push presents’ is simply in the name. It is not insulting, however, to give a woman a gift to congratulate them for their pregnancy and remind her of the experience of transitioning into motherhood. A gift such as this should always come from the heart and be full of sentiment, but never with expectation.
Materialistic things like jewelry, a journal, a camera, a mom gift basket, or a handmade gift are great gifts to consider. Even a baby and maternity photoshoot, a spa, or massage package will be a wonderful sentiment.
But more importantly, the best gift you can give is your full support, love, and presence through the whole experience.
Where do you stand on 'push presents'?
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My name is Paula and I’m a mom of two scrumptious cuties. Thanks Mommy Blog became a project for me to help guide other new moms and current moms through any of my own personal experiences and struggles. My hobbies include singing, doing jigsaw puzzles, baking, designing and trying to stay creative.
Wow I never heard of a push present!! I gave a new Mom $$ for a massage. All new Moms need time to relax and for someone to just pamper them.
Some moms in a message board group I’m in are DEMANDING push presents from their husbands and significant others. I’m personally stunned. I’d never even heard of a “push present” before (and this is my THIRD CHILD), and I was just totally shocked that so many moms would ask for… Read more »