The Politics of Pregnancy

I am currently undergoing the experience of 'expecting' for the first time. With this comes the joy of navigating the pitfalls of pregnancy politics. What I mean by pregnancy politics has nothing to do with liberals, conservatives, or communists, nor does it relate to the foreign policy or the national economy. Rather, I use the term in reference to the careful provision and timing of releasing information about the pregnancy and the multiple factors that must be taken into consideration in this task to avoid undue relational hardship. If this doesn't make sense to you, either A) you haven't had a baby, B) it's a crappy explanation, or C) both of the above. Perhaps an example will lend some concreteness to the discussion.
The first piece of information that has to be shared with people is that you are expecting a baby. How far into the pregnancy you are when you share this is not a big deal in terms of bothering most people. A more sizeable decision with far-reaching implications is in what order people will be told. For example, do your parents find out first, or one of your siblings, or a friend, or coworkers? Which side of the family gets told first? Do you tell people in person, over the phone, by email? Or do you just wait for the grapevine to do its thing? Stay in school kids, degrees in media relations or international diplomacy would likely be helpful in this situation, and may help you to avoid responses such as "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" or "I'm the last one to know, aren't I? I'm always the last one to know! I was the last to know about your engagement, too!" (These response are real life examples). And this is just part one of the problem! Who do you tell first that you're in labour and going to the hospital? Who do you call first after the birth?
May I suggest to those of you who have had several children that there is a market for pregnancy consultants with at least three children of experience. While I await the advice that is sure to come, since everybody seems to have so much to share when you're expecting, I'll start sending apologies to people, but who first?