We may have heard of a Push Present which new mother's get for pushing out a baby, but the 16th century in Great Britain, a wheel of cheese was the reward for giving birth. Called groaning, because of the sound the soon-to-be-mother makes, pieces of the cheese were distributed among the baby's first visitors. This was thought to bring great luck to the baby. And at the birth of child, cut in in such a way by degrees a ring was formed, through which the was ceremonially passed on the day of his Christening. This custom is described by John Brand in his Observations on Popular Antiquities, 1841.
