A ‘push present’ is a gift given to mothers, usually by their husband or partner, to mark the birth of a new baby.
On Lunchtime Live, former Miss Ireland Lisa O’Sullivan Shaw said this recent trend ‘smacks of notions’.
“It’s very Americanized, working its way over here,” she said.
“All it’s doing is causing unnecessary pressure to couples.
“It’s more of ‘I want this, I need this’ - that’s not what having a baby should be about whatsoever.
“I mean fine if you get one and you want one, to each their own – but I wouldn’t be following the Joneses of ‘I want what they have’.”
A mother carrying a baby in a sling, 11-11-2016. Image: AlamyLisa said most of her friends received ‘a kiss on the forehead and a well done’ after delivering their children.
“I spoke to someone last night and as they said, if your husband or your partner can step up and be an equal partner, an equal parent, that’s the present you should be looking for,” she said.
Katie Mack from the Opinions Matter podcast said people should focus on what they have.
“It’s just so beyond ridiculous,” she said.
“The kind of people who get disappointed because they don’t get it, you're kind of going - 'come on, you have a baby'.
“Especially when you have a healthy baby - I mean, what more do you need?”
Gifts for fathers
One caller, a father called Ed, said people should consider buying gifts for fathers instead.
“I just noticed that there’s not much mention at all about stress presents for dads,” he said.
“The poor old dad has to worry about all the future now and getting the child educated and all that good stuff and that there doesn't seem to be much talk of it at all.”
Katie said that Ed ‘might be onto something’.
“When mammies give birth, it's all about the mammy and all about the baby, and a lot of the time nobody thinks about Dad,” she said.
"Dad's life is changing massively as well, and it is an awful lot of stress.
“So, I actually do think that there is something in that.”
Lisa said her husband didn’t need a ‘stress present’ because he had her.
