The Final Push: What does a Push Present really mean?
What is a push present?
““Then God said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. But it’s okay Eve because then Adam will give you something shiny with lots of diamonds, won’t you Adam?” ”
Then Eve had Cain and Abel and the Push Present was born. And there you have it folks, the origin of the Push Present in all its God-given glory!
Jokes aside, the birth of new life is something beautiful, miraculous even, but it’s also something that has come with a whole lot of sacrifice and hours, months and years, of (literal) blood, sweat and tears. Women endure years of menstruation – pain and discomfort every month from the day they hit puberty – preparing them to one day give birth. Then after carrying around a tiny little person inside of them for nine months they have to suffer through labour – as if giving up alcohol wasn’t bad enough.
So, what is a push present?
A Push Present is a little token of appreciation, commonly given to the mother by the father, but also something the mother may receive from anyone close to her who acknowledges the pain and sacrifice she underwent to create new life.
Push Presents are sometimes related to the baby in some way. Occasionally they use the newborn’s birthstone, birthday or name, or something to represent that particular stage of the mother’s life. Most importantly though, the Push Present should really revolve around the mother - what she likes and what is going to remind her of her child and this moment. It’s something that she will hopefully enjoy wearing throughout hers and the child’s lifetime.
What push presents are not -
Push Presents are often mistakenly thought to be an invention of the jewellery industry – keeping men in their pockets through this worldwide conspiracy of guilt, much like Mother’s Day and the card industry – but this is actually an urban myth.
History of the Push Present -
It’s now thought that the idea of a Push Present came from an increased involvement of men during pregnancy and childbirth. As it turns out, spawning life is no walk in the park (who would have thought??), and this evidently becomes quite obvious when you’re looking after a pregnant lady for nine months. So, to make up for the fact that they feel really, really bad, women are increasingly receiving compassionate ‘thank you’ gifts from their spouses for all that they’ve gone through.
The importance of the Push Present
Let’s focus on what is important -
It’s important to remember that this gift is not just about the final ‘push’, it’s everything that came before and everything that’s yet to come. When a woman is pregnant, she has to deal with over 40 crazy weeks of changes to her body, her hormones, her lifestyle and her diet (not to mention the 20% cut in lifetime salary – thank you the patriarchy!), the effects of which continue way after the baby is born.
I’ll admit, when I gave birth to my first child, I didn’t know what a Push Present was and was a little bewildered by the idea. Surely the gift is the child, right? But then, week three into breastfeeding, running on little to no sleep, I looked down to my finger and thought to myself, ‘yeah that sounds about right’. Now I’m not saying that a father does not go through any stress at all, just that a diamond can be an excellent equaliser.
The birth of your child is also a day you want to commemorate and remember. Life is something to be celebrated after all! Recently the trend has also been going both ways, where mothers have been giving fathers small tokens of their appreciation such as a set of cufflinks with the baby’s birthstone.
For me, personally, I think it’s also important not to see a Push Present as materialistically buying off the mother – believe me, the real challenge is yet to come. Instead, I think it’s something that says, I value you, I will support you and I appreciate you as a woman and as a future mother. It’s an acknowledgement that you’re in for something crazy and something really scary, but that you’re in it together, no matter what.
Check out a very different type of push present we made. Click here
Would you like to discuss a push present idea? Militza Ortiz is a small jewellery business based in Wimbledon, South West London UK, but we are more than happy to work remotely if that suits you.
