XX-YY – K and D welcome their beautiful daughter SÃabhra-Róise Antònia Elizabeth …. Born safely and gently in water into the loving arms of her mother under the professional eye of homebirth midwife …and to the early morning delight of her brothers …
It’s the proselytising that gets me. The subtext of “not born in a hospital with an epidural, oh no, not for us, and certainly not by cesarean section..we found that with a TENS machine it was all wonderful etc. etc.” Oh the politics of giving birth. I also draw your attention to the innovative use of accents (two Irish, one Spanish) which ensures that this child’s name will never be spelt correctly except, fair dues to the Irish Times, on her birth announcement.
AA and BB – C and J are delighted to announce the birth of our beautiful baby girl, Lady Ruby Mae …. A … little sister for India and Domino.
Do you think Domino is a boy, a girl or something you might wear to a masked ball?
Yeah, I know, it’s easy to mock and if these children’s parents ever find this site, I am doomed. My own brother has described the Princess’s name as just the wrong side of pretentious.
On a different note – I love March and the many posts you achieved to write and share with us! I’m glad it’s not all going down the drain with old age 😉 Thanks!
Exactly. And the “loving arms” bit because clearly a gentle home water birth is the only truly loving thing to do…. Wonder if they’d have published Belle’s birth announcement “Born by extremely medical, pre-planned and really rather wonderful caesarean section into the capable hands of a professor of obstetrics…”
And Princess’s name is gorgeous and not at all pretentious.
(I can always find plenty to comment about on baby names!! I could discuss names all day. Sad but true.) India is one of those names that can go either way isn’t it? Quite sweet but often associated with extreme pretentiousness or alternatively significant chaviness. I think India, Domino and Lady though sounds like a pack of dogs. As in 4-legged creatures; I’m not trying to be gratuitously offensive….!
Domino? Must’ve eaten a lot of Pizza when she was pregnant.
What about poor old Lady MacDuff? From the report of his birth she can’t of had a very nice time at all.
Are you sure the waterbirth one wasn’t an April Fool’s stunt?
I do think one of the problems around birth and its politics is the way people feel the need to trumpet their choices as the only thing a responsible mother would do (whether taking the homebirth route or the ultra-medical route). People who went to hospital feel patronized/reproached by the people who didn’t, and people who want homebirth feel they have to defend their choice ever more stridently because it is perceived as mad/pretentious. The charitable reading of that announcement (if it’s not a piss-take), is that the family are reassuring Auntie Marge who thought they were barking that, actually, it was a very special experience and not just a flirtation with neo-natal drowning.
I had one homebirth by accident and am now planning to have another deliberately, assuming this pregnancy goes as smoothly as the last one. It seems to make most sense for me and my family. We’ll see how it turns out. Ironically, I don’t feel as frightened of the hospital now that I have some experience.
I agree completely about the names…