# Question about birth announcement cards



## Lavinia.dNP

In France and in Italy, when people have birth announcement cards printed, they always write the usual sentences like "x and y are proud to announce the birth etc...", and then they always add the *weight* and often even the *size* of the "little roast".

My question is the following : am I the only crazy girl who feels uneasy about this? because it feels to me like if the baby was treated like a piece of meat or a chicken that you are buying or selling : it weighs xx kilos and it's this big. In the case of a baby, I'd rather remain on topics like 'he's enjoying good health" "he looks happy" for a birth announcement card.

Am I crazy?

What is the custom in your country?


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## Bilma

As far as I know birth announcement cards are NOT used at all in Mexico.


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## maxiogee

Lavinia.dNP said:
			
		

> In France and in Italy, when people have birth announcement cards printed, they always write the usual sentences like "x and y are proud to announce the birth etc...", and then they always add the *weight* and often even the *size* of the baby.



What purpose do the cards serve?

In Ireland one's friends and family know about the pregnancy and birth by word of mouth. Newspaper announcements are sometimes added so that friends can be informed of the event, and the name of the child.

I cannot imagine to whom I would have given/posted printed cards.
When our son was born I rang, in order,
1. my wife's parents
2. my parents
3. my sister living in England
4. her married sister
5. my married brother
6. her employer

Other relatives on both sides were presumed to be part of the chain of phone-calls which would be made by our two sets of parents. Within about a week all my first and second cousins knew of the event. Same for Mrs Maxiogee's side of the tree.


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## Lavinia.dNP

maxiogee said:
			
		

> What purpose do the cards serve?
> 
> In Ireland one's friends and family know about the pregnancy and birth by word of mouth. Newspaper announcements are sometimes added so that friends can be informed of the event, and the name of the child.
> 
> I cannot imagine to whom I would have given/posted printed cards.
> When our son was born I rang, in order,
> 1. my wife's parents
> 2. my parents
> 3. my sister living in England
> 4. her married sister
> 5. my married brother
> 6. her employer
> 
> Other relatives on both sides were presumed to be part of the chain of phone-calls which would be made by our two sets of parents. Within about a week all my first and second cousins knew of the event. Same for Mrs Maxiogee's side of the tree.


 
Well, I suppose that birth announcement cards are made in order to have something to keep and look at several years after remembering the moment. A bit like birthday cards : if someone gives you a present, you don't really need a card to tell you who it is, since you have that person in front of you, probably it's just to have a "souvenir"

Personally, I think they're a bit useless too, especially when they state the weight and size of the "little roast", but that's the custom!


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## tigger_uhuhu

Bilma said:
			
		

> As far as I know birth announcement cards are NOT used at all in Mexico.


 
Nop, we do not use it


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## pickypuck

When I lived in France, I found this tradition very surprising at first... Instead of cards, I received forwarded e-mails telling how proud the father was, how good the mother and the child were, the child's measures... many times with attached photos. There is not such a tradition in Spain. 

¡Olé!


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## ILT

Well, we use them in the north of México as it is an easy way to send every friend and family member a picture of the baby  (it depends on the parents whether the announcement is sent by way of e-mail or snail-mail). We usually include the weight and height of the baby. More than treating the baby like a piece of meat, we are already answering the first question a new parent ever gets: "How much did s/he weight?!? Wow, that's a big baby!". I know every other person I encountered asked me about the weight of my baby, and if you ask your mom, whe will always remember how much you weighted/measured at birth. It's just one of those things.


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## Lavinia.dNP

I love translating said:
			
		

> Well, we use them in the north of México as it is an easy way to send every friend and family member a picture of the baby  (it depends on the parents whether the announcement is sent by way of e-mail or snail-mail). We usually include the weight and height of the baby. More than treating the baby like a piece of meat, we are already answering the first question a new parent ever gets: "How much did s/he weight?!? Wow, that's a big baby!". I know every other person I encountered asked me about the weight of my baby, and if you ask your mom, whe will always remember how much you weighted/measured at birth. It's just one of those things.


 
Well, I remember perfectly how much I weighed when I was born because I've been told, but I don't feel comfortable with the idea of asking how much does the "little roast" weigh.

Although it's the very first question everybody asks, I think it's a bit "distasteful"

Moreover, I really can't see the point in knowing how big the "little roast" is.
What matters is the health, or maybe you might like to know if the baby looks more like his mother or father... and so on.

Any other opinions?


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## ladybird

I have seen these type of cards on a few occasions but I don't think they're commonly used in the UK.

I think the fascination with baby's measurements go back to the bad old days when it was considered more of an accomplishment if the baby was on the large side, to deliver a large baby meant that the mother must be superstrong.

Also, I think there is usually discussion about whether the baby looks like mum or dad, but if we're being honest, immediately after the birth they have such scrunched up features it's hard to tell who they look like !

ladybird


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## Agnès E.

I must say that not _all_ people in France do that... not many, to say the truth; it is seen as a bit stupid here, too.


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## GenJen54

These cards are quite common in the U.S., and almost always include a photo, along with the general "vital statistics." 

I don't know why people are so fascinated by this information.  It is almost generally always followed up by comments of shock: "Ooh, he's going to be so tall like his father," or awe: "How did she carry such a chub in her body for so long." 

I guess they are to give people the general idea that the baby is alive and robust.


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## Etcetera

We in Russia don't use such announcement cards. But when there's a newspaper article about a new-born child of some famous person, there's usually information about the child's weight and size. 
I don't know why people find such information that important and interesting, honestly! After all, it seems to me, it's rather personal matters...


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## badgrammar

When in Rome...

It seemed odd to me at first, too... But 12 years and 2 franco-American kids later, I have come to accept it for the tradition that it is.

My husband never understood why, at Christmas in the States, we put "to" and "from" labels on the presents.  He thought it so odd to advertise that X got something for Y - because at his house, even amongst adults, we're supposed to act like it all came from Santa (even though we know who it came from anyway).  These are cultural differences, I think, not so much a question of good vs. bad taste or 

In the US birth announcements are less common but still have the weight and length (heighth) noted on them.  Silly tradition?  Maybe.



			
				Lavinia.dNP said:
			
		

> In France and in Italy, when people have birth announcement cards printed, they always write the usual sentences like "x and y are proud to announce the birth etc...", and then they always add the *weight* and often even the *size* of the "little roast".
> 
> My question is the following : am I the only crazy girl who feels uneasy about this? because it feels to me like if the baby was treated like a piece of meat or a chicken that you are buying or selling : it weighs xx kilos and it's this big. In the case of a baby, I'd rather remain on topics like 'he's enjoying good health" "he looks happy" for a birth announcement card.
> 
> Am I crazy?
> 
> What is the custom in your country?


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## Etcetera

So, in some countries announcement cards are to be sent to relatives and friends of the family to inform them about the birth of the baby? That's interesting.
When my infant sister was born, we informed our relatives by phone. 
And when my cousin was born, his parents sent us a telegram. And, sure enough, neither we nor they included in the messages any information about the baby's weight and size. After all, all babies are normally of nearly the same weight and size.


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## badgrammar

Agnès E. said:
			
		

> I must say that not _all_ people in France do that... not many, to say the truth; it is seen as a bit stupid here, too.



Really?  I am surprised, because while I thought it rather a waste of time, everyone I know, bar none, who has had a child in France sends an announcement - and some are wonderfully creative.  The last one was a sort of waxy paper passport with a picture of the little girl (really cute) and on the facing page, her name, birthday, weight and heighth, and a handwritten notes from the parents.  I will certainly keep it in my memorabilia box. 

But why the vital stats?  Come to think of it, I really don't know, mmaybe it's just to give some sort of description of the little person - a child who is born at 2.5 kilos and 47 cm is a small model, one who weighs 4.5 kilos and measures 56 cm is a heavy duty one.  Maybe it's just to describe the kiddo.  Sometimes you don't see a baby for a while, so it's nice to recieve the faire-part with a picture.


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## karuna

I think this tradition comes from old times when infant mortality was high. Or maybe expecting mothers could not received good nurishment in winter when fruits or fresh vegetables were not available. If the newborn child was very small it might have less chance of survival. On the other hand the heavier and bigger child would be considered more healthy therefore knowing the weight and height was very important – either to celebrate or be aware that the new child and mother needs extra care and help.


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## karuna

In Latvia I never received such birth announcement cards but whenever someone I knew had a baby the weight of a newborn was almost always announced by phone or by word of mouth. I think it also made this joyous event more distinguished and individual, instead of merely saying that the child was born.


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## Agnès E.

badgrammar said:
			
		

> Really? I am surprised, because while I thought it rather a waste of time, everyone I know, bar none, who has had a child in France sends an announcement - and some are wonderfully creative. The last one was a sort of waxy paper passport with a picture of the little girl (really cute) and on the facing page, her name, birthday, weight and heighth, and a handwritten notes from the parents. I will certainly keep it in my memorabilia box.
> 
> But why the vital stats? Come to think of it, I really don't know, mmaybe it's just to give some sort of description of the little person - a child who is born at 2.5 kilos and 47 cm is a small model, one who weighs 4.5 kilos and measures 56 cm is a heavy duty one. Maybe it's just to describe the kiddo. Sometimes you don't see a baby for a while, so it's nice to recieve the faire-part with a picture.


I was much unclear in my statement, I'm afraid. 

I was talking about giving height and weight of the baby as if it were an animal for sale in a cattle fair. 
The announcement card is a must and a tradition in France, for sure! Giving height and weight is a more modern trend that is not followed by everyone.


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## Brioche

We don't have bith annoucement cards in Australia.

We generally put an announcement in the newspaper.
It's the usual thing to give the weight of the baby, and although Australia has used the metric system for more than 30 years, the weight is nearly always given in pounds and ounces.


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## Bonjules

Lavinia,
I am interested in that 'little roast' expression of yours, 
which is cute. Assuming it  to be French (am I stereotyping?), would you tell it to us ?
  In the US or Puerto Rico I'm not aware of the use of these cards, but people will almost always tell you the 'data', probably for the reasons
Karuna stated.
saludos


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## se16teddy

Lavinia.dNP said:
			
		

> In France and in Italy, when people have birth announcement cards printed, they always write the usual sentences like "x and y are proud to announce the birth etc...", and then they always add the *weight* and often even the *size* of the "little roast".


What is the expression in French and Italian?  I couldn't find 'petit ro^ti' in my dictionary.


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## Lavinia.dNP

se16teddy said:
			
		

> What is the expression in French and Italian? I couldn't find 'petit ro^ti' in my dictionary.


 
It's just a joking expression that I invented to give the idea of meat, but, we coud find some funny translations like "jambonneau" in French and "mortadellino" or "arrosticino" in Italian.

It's up to your fantasy!


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## french4beth

I chose not to send out announcements, relying on the phone & sending pictures, instead. And let's face it, I'd rather not see a picture of a newborn immediately after birth - we all come out rather squished-looking, rather like aliens! I think we all look much more humanoid a couple of days after the actual event. And don't even ask me about having videos of every excruciating detail - a couple of pictures were taken (above the waist only) as I _really_ didn't want everyone to know _that_ much about me!

And for some reason, in the US, we always say, "the baby was x inches _long_", yet height is always stated as "xx feet xx inches _tall_" - I guess because at that age, we have to lay the babies down to get a measurement. My Quebecois friends & relatives found that to be quite odd (_long_ vs. _tall_)!

All of my children were _quite_ robust at birth - I would tell people their birth weight just to get a little sympathy for myself! And also to explain why they were so large for their age! My eldest was 10 lbs/4.5 kg (known as a 'teddy bear' in the nursery, due to his abundant hair & large girth!), my second was 9 lbs. 2 oz/4.2 kg (with hair down to his collar) and my youngest was 10 lbs. 3 oz./4.6 kg (they had to borrow pajamas from the pediatric unit because the nursery's jammies were too tight!). 

Yes, they were all delivered naturally.  Ouch!  Luckily, we moms forget the pain of birth, or we would never have another child.

They were all healthy, happy babies, and are now healthy, happy children. For that, I'm thankful!


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## Bonjules

It is not uncommon, Lavinia,
to express our affection for children or other humans in general (or our pets!)
in culinary terms. You seem to enjoy eating; me too.
actually, I found teddys 'petit ro^ti' quite funny.


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## Lavinia.dNP

Bonjules said:
			
		

> It is not uncommon, Lavinia,
> to express our affection for children or other humans in general (or our pets!)
> in culinary terms. You seem to enjoy eating; me too.
> actually, I found teddys 'petit ro^ti' quite funny.


 
I'd say that this term wants to be a kind of joke to stress the comparison with a piece of meat when people enquire abouth the weight of the baby.

But who knows, perhaps now that I came out with this invention, some mother will find it so funny that she'll jokingly say "little roast" or "petit rôti" to her baby.


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