Choosing and Sending the Perfect Birth Announcement

There's no question about it: Babies are expensive. If you're on a tight budget, you may want to handle the birth announcement creation yourself. You can find affordable, print-it-yourself birth announcement cards in almost any stationery store or on the Internet.

Although this option could save you a good bit of money, it may turn out to be much more time-consuming than you'd expect. While most of these do-it-yourself birth announcement packs claim to be "quick and easy," a sleep-deprived mom might be tempted to take a baseball bat to her printer after struggling for a few hours. If you are tech-savvy, you probably won't have a problem with these announcements, but if you already have an adversarial relationship with your home computer and printer, consider foregoing this option.

There is, however, good news for computer-challenged parents who want to go to the do-it-yourself route (or new moms and dads eager to hand the task off to the first visiting relative): Try "fill-in" birth announcements. You simply handwrite your baby's name, birth date, and stats into provided blanks or spaces on these cards. Definitely not fancy, but easy—and affordable.

While many experts (and card companies) poo-poo it, sending email birth announcements is free, simple, environmentally friendly—and enormously popular. Scour your online address book, pop in the details (and a photo or link to a photo site, if you want), and hit send. This makes it especially easy for partners or friends to get involved—you can even send your pre-approved draft to them ahead of time! (The BabyZone Photos tool can make it even easier.)