Should Childbirth Earn the Mom Some Bling?
Do mothers deserve an extra something special after giving birth?
April 20, 2009 — -- After nine months of discomfort, anticipation and an ever-growing belly, some mothers have come to expect a little bit more than a bundle of joy on the day they give birth.
"Push gifts," a term used to describe a gift given by one partner to another after she gives birth, have grown in popularity, as more and more mothers look forward to receiving some bling for their hard work.
Marty Suttle is one of those mothers, and was happy to receive a matching amethyst necklace and bracelet from her husband when she gave birth to her now 14-month-old son Christopher in January 2008.
"I did get a push present," Suttle, who resides with her family in Raleigh, N.C., told ABCNews.com. "My husband liked the idea and surprised me."
Suttle estimates that the jewelry cost her husband around $500, and considers it his way of saying "thank you" for a job well done.
Suttle acknowledges that such gifts may be a bit controversial.
"I know a couple of other women who have received gifts after giving birth but I tend to hear a lot of 'the baby is your gift,'" said Suttle. "Which is true, my baby is beautiful and I love him."
"But I'm not going to bemoan getting a gift," added Suttle.
Neither did Beth Avant, a mother of two who bought her own push gift after her husband Jason did not pick up her apparently too subtle hints about how much she'd enjoy receiving a signature Tiffany and Co. blue box along with her newborn.
"I knew he hadn't gotten my hints," said Avant. "I kept saying, 'Oh, a little blue box would be so perfect!'"
So, off Avant went to her local Tiffany's, just a few weeks after she gave birth to her son Lucas in 2004.
"I got a little silver ring with a sapphire in it," she said. "I got a blue one because my baby was a boy."
Avant said the ring cost her around $200, and since she bought it, her other pregnant friends have dropped hints to their own husbands.
"A couple of my friends have gotten them and I know that when they do, their husbands get praised," said Avant.
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