How common is timing conception with the aim of giving birth in a specific month of the year?

[GossipFinch]

I read an article a while back where Davina McCall was talking about timing the conception of all of her DCs so she would give birth in the autumn after Big Brother was finished. She has 3 DCs and believe she had them all in September or October. I recall she said she couldn't bear the thought of having to go on maternity leave and having to give up the job of hosting BB when it was one of the most popular shows on TV in the early to mid-2000s.

The thought occurred to me - do 'normal' women ever try to time conception in a similar manner? I've heard that anecdotally, some women don't want August babies because they will be noticeably smaller than other children in their class who were born earlier. I personally didn't think about what month was best to conceive DCs in - I was just happy to conceive at all. Any thoughts MN?

I've heard of women in jobs with bonuses trying to time the birth so that the bonus payment falls in the window used to calculate your statutory maternity pay.

Most people I know tried to time it to avoid having summer babies. Quite a few specifically tried to have children either for the “autumn born academic advantage” or between Easter and the summer holidays (teachers trying to maximize their mat leave). We deliberately waited to start TTC both times to avoid a summer born baby, and I probably would have taken a break August-December if it had taken us that long.

Obviously that’s just for people who didn’t have any fertility issues or unplanned pregnancies.

I remember when we first decided to try for a baby I was thinking what month would be best. In the end having a child was so difficult for us and took so long that thought went out the window. I couldn’t have cared less when they were born so long as I had a baby. In the end we were very lucky to have two, one born in October and one in April and I’m happy with that. But then I’d be equally happy with any other month.

My cousin did this twice, shes a teacher so wanted autumn babies. Her sibling accidentally got pregnant and had baby 1st September!
When i first started trying we started in January to avoid August baby but it took 4 years and quite honestly I was just glad to have a baby. Two pregnancies both fertility treatment ended up with an April and may.

Multiple miscarriages meant I had abandoned any thought of timing ; as it is, dc was born first week of Sept ; 10 weeks early and was very unwell and affected for a number of years developmentally.

Someone once made a snide remark about how I must have timed conception to give my child a September academic advantage and they got a rather abrupt response from me.

however, most of the other Sept / Oct babies in his class the parents have told me it was planned.

I'm also not sure that's right. The most common dates are all in September in the UK.

Tbh, I don't really know why you wouldn't plan something so major. If you aren't in a rush and don't have known fertility issues, it makes sense to think about it. Many people do fall pregnant quite quickly when they start trying. Obviously if you go on to struggle with infertility, the month of birth would become unimportant behind a healthy pregnancy at any time.

It never crossed my mind & got pregnant first time trying which you don’t really know until it happens!

Yes, there’s a whiff of ‘well I love my children soooo much the month of their birth is irrelevant’ from some posts.

Last time I checked it was August, followed by September. I guess it’s possible people were timing for early September.

i had winter babies and had quite a few people tell me I’d “timed it wrong” and summer babies were best as then you could have mat leave in the nice weather, go on walks, to parks etc 🤣.

probably depends on the individual. Autumn babies may have the academic advantage but if you’re a sporty family that is the worst age as they’ll be the youngest in their competition year.

teachers I know all time it so they can include the summer break which means they get a full year off for the price of 10 months.

i don’t believe there is a “perfect” time tbh. A certain month may provide an advantage in one area but a disadvantage in others. By the time you’re an adult no one cares anyway.

I tried with number 2 but after 2 missed miscarriages I just wanted a full term pregnancy even if it meant a baby born at Christmas!

I timed one for March and she arrived bang on her due date. The next one I timed for June hoping for the school half term and he arrived right in the middle of the half term 🤣

Yes!!
I thought most women did this when they planned babies.

I have 3 dc in September

3 should have arrived in February, but only 2 did. One was early and one was late.

I timed my daughter to be born when the new maternity rules kicked in. It meant I could have a year off if she was due from 5th April that year.

She was born 5th April 😅

I did with our second , we had an early January first and I wanted a summer baby so we started trying aiming for late May and ended up with a mid June baby .

IMO winter babies are much better. Get all the newborn drudgery out the way while it’s dark and damp and by the time they can crawl/walk/play it’s lovely and sunny.

Wanted an autumn baby, didn’t happen but didn’t stop trying and ended up with a Christmas Day baby…

Second one I really wanted a spring baby and that worked out perfectly (my newborn is napping on my lap)

I agree.

Congratulations!

Snap 😂

DC1 took a few months to conceive, so to get an autumn baby we thought we'd better get on with it for DC2. Fell pregnant first month trying, but would still have been a September baby, until I got induced early for GD and ended up with a late Aug baby whose birthday always falls on the bank holiday weekend.

I attempted to time mine afound my Army husbands deploynent dates. But things changed after getting pregnant... so he went away from DD1 was 10 days old. And he missed DD2s birth by two weeks. (But had loads of time off after he got back).

I just wanted to avoid December.

September followed by October. Something to do with Christmas and New Year.
How popular is your birthday? - Office for National Statistics

I think in the early days it’s normal to plan. Sometimes to avoid Christmas or certain school dates but also because you had a wedding you want to attend or because you need to be employed for a certain length of time or because you don’t want to be pregnant in the height of summer. There are loads of reasons why you might skip months or start at certain points.

However, a few months in and it’s not going to plan you stop caring about these reasons and just want to be pregnant. It’s how we ended up with a due date two days after a relatives wedding and we had speculation if we’d done it on purpose. Its a big life decision and it’s normal to want to have some control over it - but babies don’t come on schedule and for many trying to conceive is an exercise is letting go of control.

I planned a September baby but had to terminate for genetic reasons. Then I couldn't risk waiting for the next September as I was too old and ended up with an April baby instead.
Most dcs in her class have Spring/Summer birthdays, which I don't think is planned so I don't think it's that common in her class.

I have one born April, July, August and September. No, they weren't timed conception wise.