Baby shower vs gender reveal party: Which one should you choose?

Congratulations on your pregnancy and may you be blessed with a healthy baby. Many parents like to celebrate the good news with a party about four to six weeks before the due date.

While earlier this party was typically a baby shower, many people are now choosing to have gender reveal parties.

Here is how the two are different so you can make a clear choice on which one you want to throw for celebrating your baby-on-board.

Baby showers are traditionally female-only events which nothing as such applies for gender reveal parties. The focus of a baby shower is the expecting mother and her friends and family shower her with gifts for the baby.

In India, baby showers are also known as godh bharai and many people also hold a pooja for the expecting parents and the baby. In godh bharai, the mum-to-be with jewelry and her lap is filled with gifts, fruits and sweets. After the rituals are done with, people at the get-together sing, dance, eat and play baby shower related games.

At a gender reveal party, the focus is around revealing the gender of the baby. People found many creative ways to reveal the gender – typically via blue and pink colors. So the colour could be hiding in the frosting of a white cake, confetti inside a balloon or something similar.

The surprise of the sex of the baby is also revealed to the parents in the party, so the surprise element is often planned by a close friend or family member of the parents-to-be.

Since gender reveal came with a scope for a lot of new, creative ideas to reveal the baby’s gender, this relatively new concept is gaining a lot of popularity and people are choosing it over the traditional baby showers.

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After the initial wave of excitement around gender-reveal parties, many people dismissed the idea as the focus shifts from just the baby to the gender of the baby, reinforcing gender stereotypes such as pink for the girl and blue for the boy. Many people from the transgender community also shared that these kinds of parties minimize transgender identity.

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Make sure you take ample rest before the party as it may get hectic for you. Wear comfortable clothes as those with heavy embroidery or not-so-breathable fabric may get uncomfortable for you. Make sure you include the foods you are currently enjoying in your pregnancy in the party menu.