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Are you expecting a girl or a boy – that is the question?

And do you want to know? That’s another question! And if you do want to know, do you want your friends and family to know too? So many questions – but everyone is different. Some mums and dads in waiting want to savour the 40 week moment and wait to be surprised in the delivery suite, others want to know early so that they can prepare the nursery, baby equipment and clothing according to the sex of the baby.

For those who want to shout it to the world after the defining moment of that gender-determining ultrasound scan, gender reveal parties have been all the rage.

But since lockdown, actual parties are off the agenda with pregnant mums being advised to shield and self-isolate. So why not consider running a virtual gender reveal party using Zoom. You will enjoy all the excitement of the gender reveal followed by fun and games for all virtual party-goers with our tips and a little imagination.

Zoom is an increasingly popular video call app with a free tier but it is capped at 40 minutes. However it still give you time for plenty of fun if you’re organised. You need a valid email address, then accept Zoom's privacy policy and their terms and sign up by downloading the app or going to the official website.

To host a meeting, load up the website or app. Log in, then click New Meeting and Start With Video. You then share a link to invite other people. If you receive a link to join a meeting (you still need to have Zoom installed) click it and you will be taken to the video conference.

If you are running a gender reveal party, you need the email addresses of all those you want to invite. Choose the time and date for the party and email the link to your guests.

Now for the fun part. It’s clear to a skilled ultrasound technician whether you're having a boy or a girl at around 18 to 20 weeks' gestation. If you don’t want to know the sex of the baby ask the sonographer to write "boy" or "girl" on a piece of paper and place it in a sealed envelope.

Give the information to a friend or family member – if you want to be in on the surprise – and they can then plan the grand reveal. Traditional ideas for reveal include pink or blue balloons which are released from a box, or an opaque balloon filled with pink or blue confetti, a cake with pink or blue sponge revealed as it is cut or one of My Heartbeat Bear’s Gender Reveal Bears which come with a box depicting pink and blue elephants and the message – What do you think? Blue or Pink? Open the box to reveal your baby’s sex.

Play some games before the big reveal moment. Some games which are great fun to play and easy to do virtually include the gender guessing game. Allow your guests a quick look at your ultrasound image and then ask them to guess the sex of your baby.

There are lots of Old Wives’ tales about predicting a baby’s gender including tying your wedding ring to a string and suspending it about your tummy – if it goes round in circles it’s a boy, back and forth it’s a girl ! See what the tales predict for you before the actual reveal.

Guests can also come dressed in pink or blue depending on what they think you are carrying – there could be a forfeit for those who get it wrong!

And one idea for your next Zoom party – how about a Name The Baby event!