New Baby Flowers to Turkey: Customs, Hospital Delivery and What to Write

The news usually arrives on WhatsApp, with a photo, and you are not there. Flowers do not replace a visit, but they arrive on a day when the family is still counting every congratulation. This page explains how a birth is celebrated in Turkey, whether flowers should go to the hospital or the home, and which Turkish phrases suit the card.

For a delivery to the family's home, windows and districts are on our flower delivery across Istanbul page.

How people congratulate a birth in Turkey

The key phrase is Gözünüz aydın, literally "may your eyes be bright". It is said not only to the parents but also to the grandparents, because in Turkey the whole family is congratulated. In many families visitors are offered lohusa şerbeti, a red, spiced drink made especially for a birth. A nazar boncuğu, the blue eye bead against the evil eye, is often pinned near the cot or to the baby's clothes. The traditional family gift for the child is gold, usually a small gold coin. The flowers go to the mother.

The first forty days

Many Turkish families treat the first forty days after a birth, the lohusalık, as a protected period. Mother and baby stay at home as much as possible, visits are kept short and in the first days are limited to close family. For you that means flowers are especially welcome in this phase: they congratulate without anyone having to host guests.

Hospital or home?

After a birth, mothers in Turkey usually stay in hospital only a few days. A hospital delivery is therefore only worth it if you are sure the mother will still be there on the delivery day. We then need the hospital name, the mother's full name as given on admission, and the room number if you have it. Neonatal intensive care units usually do not allow cut flowers for hygiene reasons. All the details are on our page on sending flowers to a hospital in Istanbul.

If you are unsure, deliver to the home a day or two later. There is room for the bouquet there, and the mother does not have to carry it out of the hospital.

Which flowers suit a new baby

Light, gentle colours: white, cream, soft pink or lilac, whether it is a boy or a girl. Choose something with a mild scent, a newborn and a tired mother do not need a heavily perfumed room, so strongly scented lilies are better kept for another occasion. Bouquets with a small teddy bear are a popular choice, such as white roses and daisies with a teddy or white roses with a teddy bear. More suitable arrangements are under congratulations.

What to write on the card

• Gözünüz aydın: congratulations on the birth, to parents and grandparents.
• Allah analı babalı büyütsün: may the child grow up with mother and father. The traditional blessing for a newborn.
• Hoş geldin minik bebek: welcome, little baby. More personal, good between friends.
• Sağlıkla, mutlulukla büyüsün: may they grow up healthy and happy.

We print the card exactly as you type it, with ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş and ü intact. If you already know the baby's name, add it, that means more to the family than any set phrase.

Orders placed by 18:00 Turkish time are delivered the same day. How ordering from abroad works, step by step, is in sending flowers from Europe to Turkey.