One of the most exciting stages of your pregnancy is when you get to tell loved ones your happy news.
When it comes to announcing your pregnancy to parents and grandparents, you probably want to make it a special moment.
It’s great fun to make it something that you’ll all remember, both for you and for them. This is particularly the case if you’ve had a long journey to getting pregnant.
These fun ways to announce your pregnancy to family can be adapted for your different loved ones. The third idea works great as a group announcement idea!
Otherwise whether you want to tell your sister she’s becoming an auntie or let your dad know he’s going to be a grandfather, check out these ideas to announce your pregnancy to your family.
These pregnancy announcements work well in person or if you need to tell someone who lives a long distance from you that are expecting a baby.
You may also like:
11 things to do after getting a positive pregnancy test
If you’re expecting, don’t forget to check out my pregnancy planner featuring printable journal pages, checklists and handy guides to help you through every stage of pregnancy.
When should you tell family you’re pregnant?
The answer to this question is really entirely up to you.
There are no rules or laws saying you must wait until after your 12 week scan until you can tell people that you are expecting a baby.
Many expectant parents decide to tell very close relatives as soon as they discover the happy news, and have seen a doctor. They then wait until 12 weeks to tell friends and colleagues at work.
The reason for waiting is usually because most miscarriages do sadly happen in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Not telling too many people spares you from a lot of upsetting conversations if the worst does happen.
However how you feel about this possibility totally depends on you. Some people tell their family absolutely everything right away, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Plus eight weeks (as some people find out at around four weeks if they are actively trying), feels like a long time to wait!
So when it comes to when the right time is to announce your pregnancy to family, the answer is whenever feels right to you. Sharing of this happy information will not “jinx” you.
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Ways to announce your pregnancy to your parents and family
1. Personalised onesie
There are tons of announcement onesies you can get. There are so many options for what you can have written on the onesie, which of course speaks for itself even without the words written on them!
You may want to go simple with a phrase simply saying when your baby is due.
Alternatively you could go with a funny option, which is especially great if your parents or grandparents have a good sense of humour.
You could also choose something sentimental such as “I’ve got the world’s best grandparents”.
Wrap it up in some gift wrap and make it look beautiful then surprise them with the gift.
2. Cute greetings card
There are tons of pregnancy announcement cards out there including many you can get personalised.
If you can add a photo, you could add a scan photo or a picture of your positive pregnancy test to the card along with a personalised message.
There are also scratch greetings cards where your loved one needs to reveal the surprise by scratching part of the card away.
A greetings card announcing your pregnancy is a great option if you are many miles away from your loved ones and telling them in person is difficult.
So that you don’t miss their reaction to the gift, you could ask them to get on a video message with you when they open the card (although of course this could give the surprise away so make sure you come up with a good story to throw them off the scent!).
There are some fun and sweet pregnancy announcement quotes you could use on a greetings card over on this post.
3. Pregnancy announcement surprise video
Why not try creating a video made up of clips from you and your partner growing up and joint family occasions where everyone was together.
Show it to your relatives saying it’s something you made to remember happy family days. Then at the end of the video, add in a message saying your family is growing.
You could include a clip of you wearing a pregnancy announcement T-shirt, or holding up your positive pregnancy test.
If you do choose this option, don’t forget to film your family’s reaction!
4. Frame and wrap a scan picture
If you haven’t had your first scan just yet, you could take a photo of your positive pregnancy test and wrap that up.
One nice idea is to get a personalised frame with I love you “grandma” or “uncle” on it depending on who you are gifting it to. Once the baby is born, your relative can then swap out the scan picture for a picture of the baby.
5. Scratch cards
These scratch cards are a cool novelty way of letting people know you are pregnant!
If you want to tell a group of family members you are pregnant in person, you could hand these all out at a family party and get everyone to reveal them at the same time.
6. Wear an announcement maternity top
If you’re seeing your family in person to tell them your happy news then a cool maternity top revealing you are expecting can be great fun.
Wear it under a cardigan or coat, then find a moment to reveal it and see everyone’s faces click what’s going on.
If you are trying to do a long distance pregnancy announcement then wear the top for a video call. If they don’t notice right away, try standing up and asking if they like your new outfit!
7. Personalised cute mug or glass
Get them a mug or a glass with world’s best grandpa or auntie on it. This is a lovely gift that will remind them everyday that they have a little baby coming into the family very soon.
You can also get personalised announcement insulated coffee cups and flasks. So you can choose a type of gift that suits the person you are buying it for.
8. Pet bandana
Let your pet do the talking with a personalised bandana!
Cats probably won’t be a huge fan of dressing up (or they won’t be if they’re anything like my cat), so this one works best with dogs.
9. Cute photo pregnancy announcement
Pose for a pregnancy photoshoot and then reveal the picture to your loved ones.
You could do this as an in person pregnancy announcement by handing your family a stack of photos with the pregnancy announcement picture at the end.
If you are telling lots of relatives, then why not print the photo onto a card and mail it out, or you could email it.
There are some lovely pregnancy announcement photo ideas on this post. Simple props can make your pregnancy announcement photo really fun. For example at Halloween why not get a pumpkin to hold over your belly. There are so many ideas out there, so just research the one that works best for you.
10. Baby spoon
Let them know your happy news with one of these cute personalised baby spoons.
It will make them smile every time they open the cutlery draw, or they can display it somewhere they will see it every day in their home.
Give it to them in a fun way by placing it on the table before you all sit down for a meal, or serve it with tea and see how long it takes them to notice.
11. Bracelet for grandma
Jewellery is a lovely gift for any occasion, but a bracelet reminding your mother or mother-in-law that she’s going to be a grandma is a lovely gesture.
In terms of the personalised message, you could write the due date and the word grandma. Of course due dates can turn out to be wrong, in fact more often than not they do, so you could simply put the month and year or just the year.
12. Keyring
A keyring with a personalised message engraved on it makes a lovely gift for grandparents and other relatives too.
13. Jigsaw puzzle
A puzzle is a fun novelty way of letting people know the happy news.
It’s a fun way of announcing your pregnancy when you can’t do it in person, as your relatives will probably be confused at first by the arrival of a jigsaw puzzle in the post.
14. Say it on a cake
Get everyone together for a party and then unveil your happy news using a cake with a personalised cake topper on it.
It could say “we’re having a baby” or “baby Smith due 2020”.
15. Organise a special lunch
If you want to tell a number of family members at the same time – which is a good idea if you don’t want to upset anyone by having them find out from somebody else – then a party is a great idea.
Get them all together with some food and treats, then raise a toast and reveal the happy news.
You could also try idea number 3 on this list, the personalised video, which you could show to everyone and let it do the big reveal for you.
16. Personalised baby bibs
There are some cute baby bibs with messages like “I love my grandpa” that would make a lovely gift to reveal you’re expecting.
Wrap them up and deliver them in person, or send them as a nice surprise in the mail.
17. Baby book
Start encouraging the baby bonding process by buying a book that your family member can read to the little one.
It could be a personalised book aimed specifically at one relative such as grandma, or just a copy of a family favourite baby book. Include a personalised message inside saying you can’t wait for your loved one to read to the new baby when they are born plus the due date.
18. Say it with wine
Gift them with a bottle of wine featuring a label announcing your happy news!
There are lots of different companies out there offering wine with personalised announcement labels. You could get it delivered to you so you can hand it over in person or have it deliver to their home, which is especially handy if you need to do a long distance pregnancy announcement.
19. A personalised top for them
Get them a top with a personalised message such as “world’s best auntie”.
Wrap it up and present it to them as a special gift.
20. Spell it out on a letter board
Letter boards are a great way to announce your pregnancy!
You could put together an announcement with the letters and leave it in your home, then invite your relatives over and see if they spot it.
Alternatively you could send it to them as a gift, or take a photo of yourself with the letter board announcement and send that.
There are some great letter board pregnancy quote ideas on this post.
21. Send them biscuits
You can order some cute baby biscuits which feature your happy news spelled out in icing.
Many biscuit delivery companies will do a box with different types of biscuits, so you can get a couple shaped as rattles or onesies, with one large one featuring the pregnancy announcement written in icing.
22. Make a countdown board
You can order a personalised countdown board featuring a chalk section where your relative can note the number of days left.
If you want to save a bit of money, find a simple chalkboard and write your announcement on there with a countdown at the end so your family member can amend the days as your due date gets closer.
23. Send a new family tree
Get a family tree printed featuring a space for the newborn baby about to arrive into your family!
This is a great pregnancy announcement idea if you want to do it long distance by post, but also works great as a gift given to your loved one in person.
