Ask Dr. Helen: Do Husbands Owe Wives Post-Childbirth ‘Push Presents?’
From the wikipedia link:
‘A push present (also known as a “baby mama gift” or “baby bauble”)’
I have never heard of this before, but I am going to go out on a limb and guess that this might be related to the decline of traditional marriage…
The term “baby-mama” is used to describe a woman who has your child out of wedlock, and implies a relationship which is than marriage, but has a certain level of partnership (whether due to a continuing romantic relationship, or a connection via the child.)
“Push-presents” make no sense to me in a tradtional marriage partnership (the woman may do the more difficult job, but the baby is theirs equally, the “reward” and goal in itself.)
However, in a more tenuous “baby-mama” situation, it seems to me that such a present would help to strengthen/maintain ties and show that the baby-mama was appreciated; something that would seem important, especially if that type of relationship were percieved to be less binding/permenant than traditional marriage and there was a greater chance of the father B) playing only a minor parental role in the childs life or B) dropping out completely leaving the baby-mama to raise the child by herself.
