Gawd help us all.

Can you find someone somewhere to do something for some price? Yes. Does anyone need a baby planner? No. Of course they don't since people have had babies for thousands of years without them. Can rich people be duped into giving up some money to a fake need? Yes. It is amazing that the wealthy are wealthy considering how easily then can be tricked out of their money. The notion that anyone would need more than 10 hours and $300 to prepare for the arrival of a baby is ridiculous; my spouse and I had twins recently and all the equipment we needed for the first few months would have fit in a small box. We purchased a used four door car to transport all four of us home from the hospital the day before they could leave the hospital! I drove from the car dealer to the hospital directly. Our nursery is a spare bedroom that was also the guest room.

Don't sweat it folks. Use your brain to determine what is essential and do as little as possible to do the essentials. With babies the bare minimum is 99% of the maximum support and care possible. Expend energy on the last 1% as your time, energy, and money permits. There will be no material change in care delivered, or outcome of raising the child.

If someone doesn't have enough time to set up a registry, how will she find time to give birth? Just hope her labor is ridiculously quick and she'll be home again in half an hour?

When the time comes, I'm going to enjoy decorating my own nursery.

There are, apparently, two recession proof industries in America: penile growth/sexual improvement for men, and anything to do with having a baby for women. Both fields are awash with easy money.

Of the things listed that a "baby planner" would offer, I can kind of see two of them: finding a doula and/or nanny. I guess I'm thinking in terms of a professional baby planner having a network of contacts, and maybe you could be fairly assured of the quality of the person you're connected with. I say this because a former co-worker of mine had a doula while pregnant with her second child (and before anyone starts in on this being an upper-class thing, this woman was far from wealthy...a bit on the crunchy side, perhaps, but we worked in retail, so wealth is not a factor). This person who called herself a doula, however, was woefully underqualified. She had this woman drinking raspberry tea, which brought on early contractions and could possibly have harmed her pregnancy had she not mentioned this to her doctor, who then told her what was going on and told her to stop drinking the tea. I would hope that if one has a baby planner, that sort of thing would be avoided because (at least one would hope) the people the baby planner would use would be well-qualified people.

For the rest, though.. not so much.

Are making a huge comeback. I highly recommend them to anyone who doesn't want to get outsourced.

Wealthy people can afford lots of goods and services most of us can’t. And there are lots of professional couples who just don’t have the time for the details and who have families who are scattered all over the US. And there are lots of Personal Assistants (like me!) who make a living helping wealthy people do mundane/fabulous things. It’s time to get over it.

"going all-out to make the arrival of the baby an over-the-top, special event"

For all the helicopter parents-to-be - please remember that hardly anyone else (except maybe grandparents) wants to be involved in your kid's Radio City Music Hall production. Don't want pictures of babe in utero or delivery. Don't care about his/her first poopie.

Now if the little critter wins MegaMillions - don't forget your favorite "auntie"!

Aw come on. This has more to do with people who are trying to make money & their too-much-money-for-their-own-good patrons than your average up-the-duff, showing a bump, parents.

As baby planner client Jennifer Rein says, "It's extremely overwhelming ... I just had no idea what to expect, there are so many different marketing messages out there about all of these products that you need, and the way to do things. And, at this point, you don't know what to believe."

Brilliant. One half of the baby industry saturates our culture with confusing messages, and the other half steps in to help you sort through them.

Heaven forbid we rely on wisdom and sound judgment instead! To borrow from Marx (Groucho, not Karl), this particular quote makes baby planning seem mostly like specializing in the afflictions of the extremely credulous. Not bad work if you can get it!

Clearly this service is for the wealthy; but not everyone has mothers/sisters/brothers/husbands to help them with all the details of getting ready for the baby. Not everyone is talanted with decorating or handy with a paintbrush, but they still might want the baby's room to look nice. And some women have bed rest pregnancies, where they literally can't get out to do things that would be easy for most of us. I could also see a highly paid professional woman using her time more productively for her family at her job, rather than out buying baby stuff.

I can see this as a niche service.

where are you going to find 18 years to raise one?

use your local hospital. They should have lists of lcs, doulas, midwives, child birth classes, parenting classes, mother support groups, .... If the hospitals don't offer these services themselves, they should at least be able to point you in the right direction. For a helluva lot less than $100/hour.

You could also contact your local La Leche League chapter (they are nation-wide, and have a website).

Or, start going to your local park and meet the women with strollers and slings. Ask them for advice!