Another new baby craze from the US has hit our shores. First it was the Baby Shower, now it’s the Gender Reveal Party! British mums-to-be are slowly but surely catching on to this new way of celebrating impending parenthood and letting everyone know the sex of their unborn baby.

The idea is that a party is thrown for friends and family and unlike the traditional baby shower, men are invited as well. The cake plays the most important part, because underneath the white icing, the sponge is coloured either pink for a girl or blue for a boy. The parents cut the cake in front of the guests and reveal the sex of the baby. In some cases, even the parents don’t know the result. The sonographer is told to write the gender on a piece of paper, seal it and give it to the parents to pass on to the cake maker!

The number of requests for these ‘gender reveal’ cakes is increasing all the time according to many UK bakeries. One cake baker from Cheshire commented “People are just slowly catching on around here. I haven’t had anyone who has done the sealed envelope from the doctor yet, but nothing surprises me any more about what people ask for. It’s been fun to do it, though. One couple did it because they both had children from previous relationships and they wanted those children to be involved in the new baby, so they did it for them. Having a big family party and the cake was really nice. I do get why they did it.”

The social networks have gone crazy over this recent craze and YouTube has thousands of videos of the big reveal. Some think it’s all a bit self-indulgent on the part of the parents (let’s face no one really cares that much apart from the parents – right?) Others think “any excuse for a party” and at least it doesn’t involve buying loads of presents which is expected at a Baby Shower!

Whatever your views on this new US import, it looks like it’s here to stay. With more than 60% of parents choosing to know the sex of their unborn child, there is plenty of potential for mums-to-be to do it this way.

Regardless of whether it’s a boy or a girl Born Gifted have an outstanding range of children’s gift ideas which are most definitely the icing on the cake!

Congratulations to Jessica Simpson and fiancé Eric Johnson on the long-awaited arrival of their daughter who they have named Maxwell Drew Johnson. Maxwell who was more than a week overdue, having been expected on April 21st weighed a whopping 9lb 13oz. Mum and baby are doing great.

Proud mum wrote on her website “Eric and I are elated to announce the birth of our baby girl, Maxwell Drew Johnson. We are grateful for all the love, support and prayers we have received. This has been the greatest experience of our lives!!”

The birth itself was reportedly a costly affair with an estimated price tag of around $2million! This included $500,000 on a birthing suite, £100,000 on food and room service and $70,000 on a private jet to take them back to Texas.

The 31 year old singer was recently inundated with gifts at her equally extravagant baby shower party which was attended by her sister Ashlee, Jessica Alba and star of Grey’s Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo. The gifts reportedly included lots of books, soft toys and clothes so baby Maxwell will be off to a great start in life.

If you are attending a baby shower, albeit a slightly less showbiz one and you need a baby shower gift, Born Gifted offer a wide selection of fabulous ideas to shower on any expectant mum.  View them here.

Congratulations to Sophie Ellis-Bexter (and husband Richard Jones) on the arrival of their little boy 2 days ago. ‘Ray Holiday Jones’ weighed in at a healthy 7lb 15oz. The arrival was announced by dad and musician with ‘The Feeling’ on Twitter.

“It’s a boy! Ray Holiday Jones was born today at 12:35 weighing 7Ib 15 Mother and baby doing great. We are truly smitten. Love to u all. Rx”

Personally we like the name and for a celebrity it’s not too wacky. Peaches Geldof who gave birth to her first son last week went for the slightly more alternative name ‘Astala’! Peaches said “My little boy is the most beautiful thing in this world. When he holds Tom’s (Cohen) finger with his hand it’s the sweetest thing ever”.

They are not the only celebrities to choose unusual names for their kids this year. Beyonce and Jay-Z named their daughter ‘Blue Ivy’, Robert Downey Jr. opted for ‘Exton Elias’ and Hilary Duff and her husband chose ‘Luca Cruz.’

Last year was no different with the Beckham’s choosing ‘Harper Seven’ for their little boy, Mariah Carey’s twins were named ‘Monroe’ and ‘Moroccan’! Kate Hudson called her son ‘Bingham’ and ‘Bear Blu’ was the name chosen for their son by Alicia Silverstone and Christopher Jarecki.

With more celebrities due to give birth later this year including Jessica Simpson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Kourtney Kardashian we wait with baited breath to see if the trend continues.

Whichever name couples decide to call their child Born Gifted have a superb range of personalised baby gifts which make great present for a newborn whether he’s an Astala or an Alfie!

A university in America has recently published data showing that in 2009, 1 in every 30 babies born in the US was a twin.  (In the UK numbers are slightly lower at approx. 1 in 60-70 pregnancies).  In actual fact the numbers have been steadily increasing over the past 3 decades.  Prior to 1980 the levels were less than 2% of all births.  So what is causing such an increase?

Barbara Luke, a researcher from Michigan State University notes that the largest increase was in the slightly older women aged 30 years or more.  She added “Older maternal age accounts for about one-third of the rise, and two-thirds is due to the increased use of fertility treatments,”  It is well known the enhanced fertility treatment has a much higher prevalence of multiple births and in the US approx 12% of all women have undergone such treatment.  This increase is also being observed in the birth of triplets and higher multiple outcomes with 1 out of 651 babies in 2009 compared to one in 2,702 in 1980.

Luke stressed the importance of more research in this area because the health risks are much higher when dealing with multiple births “Continued research is necessary to improve outcomes.”

In the UK, TAMBA (Twins and Multiple Births Association) are an organization who provides support for families with twins, triplets or more.  They recently published a UK report which calls for significant improvements in NHS maternity antenatal care for women having twins, triplets or more .  The report states that 22% of mums were concerned about their post natal care and frequently complained about being abandoned and struggling to care for more than one baby.  You can visit the TAMBA website for more information.