Note to social media users: Please don't announce other people's baby news

A few months ago a friend was about to have her second baby when she sent round a sort of disclaimer to her Facebook friends pleading with them not to reveal her new baby news on the social media site.

At the time I thought it was a somewhat unnecessary precaution. Surely no one would take it upon themselves to hijack someone else’s birth announcement? But turns out they would. The reason for my friend’s extreme warning was down to the fact that a friend, in their haste to offer congratulations on the birth of their first daughter, had unwittingly announced the as yet unrevealed news to her entire friendship group.

Another dad who recently found out the hard way that good news travels fast has taken to Reddit to share his frustration. What should have been one of the biggest moments of his life – announcing the gender of his newborn baby, was actually hijacked by someone else.

As he walked into the waiting room to announce the birth of his baby daughter, he realised a friend, who was also a doctor, had already got their first.

“I’m not gonna lie – before I knew of what our friend had done, I looked at that moment as easily one of the top five experiences of my life,” he wrote.

But while he was over the moon about becoming a father, the new dad said he couldn’t help feeling the moment had been “tainted” by his friend.

“Am I unreasonable for feeling betrayed and placing a lot of emphasis on this?” he asked.

And the Internet was quick to respond to say they understood his disappointment.

“That was extremely rude and disrespectful of her,” one user wrote.

“I would be hurt and upset too. She took your moment. We don’t get very many moments like that in life, and she decided she wanted this one,” another user agreed.

You don’t need to be a parent to understand that having a baby is a big deal. As big as it gets. And becoming a parent is so massive, that, understandably, for many new mums and dads making a ‘Welcome to the world baby X’ announcement can slip down the to-do list.

That’s if they want to make an online big reveal in the first place. For some new parents a baby news post will never reach the feeds of their social media, and that’s their prerogative. But it doesn’t mean they won’t be making their own announcement in their own way, and in their own time.

Because announcing the birth of your baby is a truly special moment and its something that every parent has well and truly earnt the right to deliver. Themselves. So please let them have it. Let them bask in the likes, the texts, the comments. You can join in. Just let them do it first.

And don’t spill their news for them!

Has anyone ever revealed your news on social media? Let us know @YahooStyleUK

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