To prefer factual birth announcements to the more flowery ones?

[Molehillmountain]

I love hearing about new babies. The facts themselves, date, time, sex, weight and basic how everyone's doing get me welled up. Don't need any info about the labour at that point. I fear I might be a bit traditional or a grump.

Meh. My friends knew how rotten my pregnancy was, I'd been stuck in a wheelchair fretting about what it was going to do to my pelvis, worrying about having another traumatic post-birth experience thanks to my crap body. They recognised it for what it was, relief rather than pride. Far better than the four pushes than the previous four days.

See?
Labour stories are only allowed if long, bloody and awful

(I also had awful pregnancies btw)

Exactly. So tell your friends, but v unwise to broadcast to general public. Like most personal stuff.

Don't see it as being particularly harmful thing to share. Fits quite nicely in a text. Shame the rest of her life can't be easily summed up in a text, she's a special one that girl. (coincidentally born on Friday the 13th, read into that what you may )

No worse than many things shared on Mumsnet. I've experienced other people's boils, constipation, pet anal glands and so on and so forth. I've been there through DV, breakups, get togethers and intimate sexual matters. There are also a plethora of birth stories to read through. Four pushes and she was out is not the worst I've seen in the sharing stakes. (had my pethidine after the birth because my pelvis locked up when I was trying to stand, but no epidural YAY)

I rather like them. Birth stories that is. Some of the other stuff is a bit bleurgh. Guess the inclusion of the birth details is a reminder that baby is here and poor mum did have to go through a lot to get there, found you get a bit forgotten after birth with the exciting new baby, even if you are still ill and in need of sympathy.

I agree. I want 'baby Joseph William Smith born at 9.45pm, 1.10.13 weighing 8lbs 3oz. Mum and baby doing well.

Not: Joseph William Smith born at home after a 14 hour labour, weighing a very healthy 8lbs 3oz. Claire did a fantastic job and managed on just gas and air! Baby Joseph is a hungry boy and breastfeeding constantly!

Funnily enough, you don't get many 'baby Amelia born after 36 hour labour ended in forceps delivery, Becky is gutted and Amelia won't latch on' announcements.

I mean, save the birth story for friends later. That's fine. Don't put it all on FB an hour after the birth.

I like birth stories! Not poetic ones, but I love to know how long it took, who was there, how many times the hospital sent them home again, what medication they had etc.

My pet hate is "and we are so in love" so much pressure for those of us who found the whole thing exhausting, traumatic and left us with a guilt complex for not feeling that imaginary rush of love.

I wish I had broadcast my birth story though as DMIL loves telling me how awful DSil's labour was. She has no idea about mine.

I quite like reading them on forums or hearing my friends ones but I'm addicted to OBEM as well. Agree you have to pitch to the audience but that is true for any story isn't it. I don't want to hear all the details of your trip to Tashkent either however fascinating you think it was. So when DS was born work was told the basic details but I put the full story on a pregnancy forum and told a reasonably complete version to my friends. Hate the whole flowery stuff about sunrises and 'I just knew this was the moment my child would be born so I summoned all my inner womanly strength together'. Blurgh. But that's where my inner hippy is completely lacking.

'I did a baby' is more than sufficient.

The thing that's different about birth announcements to reading similar on mumsnet is that I choose when I log onto mumsnet and if I'm feeling sensitive about something I don't choose to read threads about it. Birth announcements that gush when I'm having a rotten day and missing having a tiny baby arrive in my inbox, text or email and I see them anyway. But factual ones always make me smile however I'm feeling. And when I was ttc without success a simple birth announcement gave me a heads up so I could process the information, send a lovely reply and get my head round it.

Yes, yes numerical mum-I so agree. Had one the other day gushing about the perfect home water birth and it hit sore spots I didn't really know I had.

I think its absolutely fine to have your own preferences, as long as you don't expect other people to share them.

posting on mumsnet is totally different to sending blanket texts/emails, as if (like me) you DO NOT wanna hear it you can stick to AIBU and chat!