I still remember what it was like to be expecting a new baby
The excitement and all of the many to-do lists to check off. One thing that I was very excited to set up was a baby registry. On it I put everything I thought I needed for my new baby. Then the baby came and I realized what I really needed was help! I’m going to be real with you, all that baby stuff is not what you really NEED. Consider this, there is tons of barely used, baby gear floating around (much of it for free even) on your local Buy Nothing group, yard sales, from your friend that has kids, etc, so other then the car seat, it is a waste of money to buy new gear.
What you NEED paid for, what does not come used at a discount store, and can’t be passed on, is services
Services are the “village” most of us in America don’t have. What services am I referring to? Birth doulas, birth photographers, placenta encapsulation, postpartum doulas, house cleaning, lactation consultants, etc. all of these are services that are not free and rarely thought of when putting together a registry.
But how do you register for birth services?
Do you just have my family and friends gift you money? You can do that of course. You could also set up a Go Fund Me account and list the services and amount you need. Or you can register with Be Her Village. Be Her Village lets you register for different services you want or need. You get cash directly to your account but the people who are adding the cash get to see the things that they are purchasing for you. They can see that they paid for a house keeper to come or 50% of your placenta encapsulation.
If you change your mind about what you need, you still get the cash
So if it turns out your Aunt Linda is going to clean your house, you can use that cash to pay for the pelvic floor therapy you badly need after spending 2 hours pushing baby out. You can also register for things like Hypnobabies childbirth courses or add things that are not listed on the site to your list. So when you are deciding what to put on the baby registry, consider birth services.
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