Sweet Peas Creations

You could be forgiven for not realised where baby showers come from. Unlike longstanding traditions such as Christenings, or other name-giving ceremonies, there doesn't seem to be that much historical basis for this event. What is clear is that it's growing in popularity all the time. The concept involves a party, usually a day-time event with lots of finger food, in which a big group of women gather to celebrate the pregnancy of a woman by giving her baby gifts. These can be incredibly practical, such as boxes of nappies, to more flamboyant, such as novelty baby clothes.

If you're still a bit bemused about why we do this, it's basically a bit of fun, and it did start very recently, so there's no grand tradition you should know about. Like Valentines day, it's something that was basically invented by advertising agencies, and has somehow caught on where other such celebrations died out. And as usual with these commercially constructed celebrations, it comes from the US. Women first seem to have started having 'baby showers' in the fifties, where 'showering' people with gifts was a standard expression for present parties.

That isn't to say that other cultures don't celebrate birth, or that there aren't examples of similar celebrations traditionally, it's just that these tended to come after birth, to celebrate the good health of the child. Muslims share a feast with friends and family before a child is born, and the Chinese celebrate 'manyue' (not a football celebration), which involves giving gifts to the mother soon after she's recovered from giving birth.

Having said that, social events did spring up around pregnancy in Victorian times. This was mostly about the fact that women were secluded when they were pregnant, and had a grand return to society after recovering from giving birth. A lot of effort would be put into these occasions.

So there are some antecedents to the baby shower, however recent a tradition it might seem, and there are certainly lots of companies that will help you celebrate it.