Nigerian birth traditions?

[Pantspangles]

A colleague at work is due to have her first baby soon. Really sadly her own mum died very recently and as you can expect she is bereft. I know her mother in law is coming to stay for the first few months. I want her to know that I’m holding her in my heart and whilst I’m just a colleague, would love to do a little something for her so that she doesn’t feel so terribly far from home (she is Nigerian). (Well she will probs still feel very far from home and of course it won’t make her miss her mum any less but I’d just like to do something nice)

Does anyone know of Nigerian traditions that friends do for new mums and their babies? I know Nigeria is a big place and there are probably lots of different things but a few ideas would be really welcome!

I think based on my Nigerian friends and colleagues traditions are quite tribe based. So you would probably be better finding out what tribe she is, e.g Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa, you will probably be able to find some more accurate info online once you know. My friends are mainly Yoruba and do naming ceremonies but I don't think this is something she will miss out on if her MIL and family are around. Maybe just discuss with her for ideas without necessarily letting on thats what you're doing, or do something traditional for you, I'm sure she will appreciate the sentiment regardless.

I've always found new parents like home cooked meals for their freezer. Lasagne, spaghetti Bolognese, fish pie, shepherd's pie, quiche, chicken and ham pie all seems to go down well. Also cakes, cookies, apple/rhubarb pies and crumbles. If she gets home from hospital and is too tired to cook she can just pull a nice meal out of the freezer. When my DD went into hospital to have second DC as Nd I went down to care for elderly DGS I spent 2 hours a day cooking/baking for her freezer. Each day I cooked a meal and made an extra one for the freezer.

Thanks both. I’ve asked another Nigerian colleague too and she has suggested something made from Ankara fabric- there are some gorgeous things on Etsy!