There are a lot of big moments in your life that you will cherish and remember forever.  These are things that can help to define who you are and shape the future for you and your friends. One of the biggest life-changing events for anyone is having a child. Whether it’s you, or a friend, you’re going to find it a profound and important experience.

You need to prepare and plan for the arrival of a baby. And, you may well be doing more planning if your friend is having a baby than if you are! Of course, you want to take care of them, and you want the process to run as smoothly as possible. So, there are quite a few things you‘re going to need to prepare for if your friend is giving birth. It’s essential to think about things like this, especially if you are a godparent! So, check out this list of things you’ll need to address to prepare for them giving birth.

Be Understanding

Okay, so the first thing you’re going to need to do is to be understanding. Your friend is going to be very hormonal and emotional because she’s pregnant. She might also feel depressed and experience bad mood changes. You’re going to need to be understanding of this and realise that she’s only being this way because she’s pregnant. So try to be understanding of any problem or demands your friend might have. Just make sure you are there for her to do what she needs when she needs it. She will really appreciate it and it will help a lot with making the birth a less stressful process.

Help Them Out

Another thing you need to make sure you do is to help out your friend during the pregnancy and birth. There will be a lot of things that they will need help with. Many of these might be ordinary everyday things like going grocery shopping, cleaning, or sorting out bills. But these are things that all take a backseat when it comes to giving birth. So your friend and her partner are going to have their things on their mind at this point. Regular chores and errands are not going to be at the front of their mind, but they still need doing. And this is where you can come in and make sure you help them out and take care of all this stuff.

Throw a Baby Shower

The traditional way to welcome a new birth is by way of a baby shower. And, in your capacity as a friend, you need to try to organise this. Get in touch with friends and family of the proud new parents, and tell them all that you’re organising a baby shower. You’ll need somewhere to host it, as well as a selection of entertainment and refreshments. Make sure you have a big enough space to host; you might even be able to do it at your place if there’s room. You need to start thinking about your baby shower present as well.

Make Sure They Take Maternity Leave

Now, when your friend gets pregnant, she will be eligible to take maternity leave. A lot of mothers choose not to take the full amount of maternity leave available. You need to encourage her to take as much as she can. This is an important part of the process of giving birth and allows her to bond with the child as much as possible. She may have concerns or worries about taking the full amount of maternity leave. But, you need to try to alleviate these worries and assure her you will be there to help her as much as she needs.

Personalised Gifts

Okay, you also need to make sure you think about gifts to get for the new parents. There are generic gifts that everyone will buy. And you might want to do the same for the baby shower. But, you will also need to think about giving them another gift something a bit more personal. A book of baby’s firsts would be an excellent idea. You might also visit www.likenessme.com and get personalised bobbleheads of the new family. This is a great novelty gift, but also something very personal and meaningful. As a friend of the couple you want to give them a gift they can cherish and that will mean a lot to them.

Baby Gear

You also need to consider the fact that the baby is going to require a lot of clothes and gear. As they are growing, they will be outgrowing things every few weeks. This can be a nightmare for new parents, and an added cost. So, if you can stock up on baby gear over the nine month period you will be able to present them with a load of stuff they will find really useful. You might even have had kids already yourself, in which case you can give them your hand-me-downs. This helps you to have a clear out of stuff you no longer need and helps your friend out along the way.

Give Them Tips

If you’ve already had children, you’re going to have experience as a parent. And that means you are perfectly placed to give advice and tips about the process. No doubt you will have picked up some tips of your own that you can share with your friend. You’ll be all too familiar with how difficult the first few months of parenthood can be. You could also suggest they visit http://www.webmd.com to find helpful tips for first-time parents. Any advice you can offer to help make their lives easier will be a blessing.

Having a baby is a massive decision and a life-changing experience for everyone. Even if you aren’t giving birth yourself, it’s still a big deal if one of your friends is. You will feel close to them, and you’ll want to help out as much as you can. There are so many ways in which you can prepare for your friend giving birth. Use this guide to help you be a little more prepared when the baby arrives!