That's My ‘Cyber' Baby

27 February 2008 — Gone are the days of relying on newspaper announcements and word of mouth to spread the word about your new arrival - one in five parents send a picture of their newborn baby to friends and family within 10 minutes of the birth, with almost half (48%) of parents taking snaps of their bundle of joy within the hour.

Orange research, conducted among 1,000 new and expectant parents, highlights how pregnancy and birth announcements have evolved in the past 20 years, with many new parents capturing the first moments of the new born on their camera phones and even creating social networking sites for their treasured offspring before they are born.

Over one in five parents (21%) have created a dedicated or social networking profile for their baby — that's over 57,000(1) babies with their own Facebook, MySpace or Bebo page.

Paul Burns, Head of Multimedia from Orange, commented; “The birth of a new baby is a life-changing event, so wanting to capture the moment and sharing it with friends and family as soon as possible is only natural. We'd urge fathers against filling the hospital bag with lenses, filters and flashguns - your camera phone should more than suffice — just make sure you wait until you're outside before you send it.""

According to the research, it's not just newborns being 'snapped'. One in seven (14%) parents have sent pictures of their unborn baby's ultrasound scan via their mobile or email — which means over 100,000 babies every year are seen by friends and family before they're even born.

However, tradition remains strong when it comes to the first people to call - 85% of people speak to the parents and parents-in-law before anyone else.

-ends-

Notes to Editors:

(1) According to the ONS, an average of 722,500 babies are born in the UK each year

Celebrity Baby Photo Price List: Who's Worth More?

• Jennifer Lopez — Twins to cost between $4-6 million (latest estimated bids)

1. Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt — baby Shiloh - $4.1 million
2. Christina Aguilera — baby Max - $2 million
3. Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt — baby Pax - $2 million
4. Dannielynn with her media hungry daddy Larry Birkhead - $1.7 million
5. Nicole Richie — baby Harlow — $1 million

Sources (if needed):

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Christina-Aguillera-039-s-Baby-Pictures-Cost-How-Much-79015.shtml

http://gawker.com/5002706/how-much-is-your-baby-worth

http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/famecrawler/archive/2008/02/19/celebrity-baby-price-list-who-s-worth-more.aspx