AIBU to predict another baby boom?

[lockdowndreamer]

As couples been locked together since the end of March, is it unreasonable to predict the next baby boom coming early 2021?

I think there will be a HUGE boom of first time parents but this might be offset by the reduction in those who already have a child/children not getting pregnant.

I gave birth a few weeks before lockdown and despite DS being generally very good the experience of being in lockdown with a baby has put a significant delay on a second child for us. We originally said we’d try again when DS was 12 months but now are saying 2-3 years minimum.
I dread to think what those with young school aged kids have been going through!

I got pregnant a month into lockdown. We got married the week before lockdown and had decided to stick with our decision to TTC as we're both getting older and its number 3 for me. Not an ideal time with no partner at scans etc but its been ok so far and cant fault the care I've received.

Been ttc our first since 2016. So far 2 failed ivf attempts and 1 miscarriage. We were about to try another cycle when the clinics closed due to lockdown. Now the clinic is back open we're trying our final attempt. So no baby boom here.

There was a baby boom after the 2008 recession but I think this time around concerns around health and maternity care and access to childcare will put the brakes on. Once we get to a point of public confidence that the epidemic is under control then I think we'll see a significant baby boom, but not just yet.

DH and I planned to go on honeymoon in April, and start TTC in Spetember when we were safely out of the 'you mustn't get pregnant due to Zika' period.

Honeymoon was cancelled due to Covid and TTC therefore postponed. I have a rare genetic disorder which will affect my care, and I need to alert my specialists as soon as I know that I'm pregnant so that they can brief midwives etc. caring for me during pregnancy. This puts me off conceiving now, as I would like some support from DH at a decent number of my appointments, as they affect what can happen during birth etc. For example if I have a section they need to use special dressings.

It's been pretty widely discussed on all sorts of media, so I think the prediction has well and truly even made.

But the millennium baby boom wasn't really an upwards boom, rather numbers holding up at a time when the usual trend was downwards.

Set against the number of couples who are snuggled at home and start one off, there will of course also the non-cohabiting who are not having 'oops' moments.

I saw an interesting piece about how lockdown is having a huge effect on HIV transmissions, because of the change in sexual behavius, especially for those who would usually have multiplr partners. 3 months of lockdown, test at the end and be sure that really is your HIV status before going back out. It's a significant interruption.

Probably not, we have long term contraception nowadays for starters.

Perhaps, if I wasn't old I would be no doubt, nothing else to do!

Am 9 weeks pregnant with my first child.
Sick of the ‘Ooooo lockdown baby must have had lots of time on your hands ;)’ remarks already with the handful of people we have told! We had been trying for 18 months and still working, life was as normal for us!

DH and I live alone and are child free at the moment. We got married and bought our house last year. We’ve had SO many people ask if we’ll be making an announcement anytime soon

The truth is that these last few months have battered us mentally. We both feel knackered all the time, and we’re probably having slightly less sex than before lockdown! Plus with all the economic uncertainty, our jobs could be gone by the end of the year. Definitely doesn’t feel like the right time to have a child, for us.

@SorryImNotCreative

DH and I live alone and are child free at the moment. We got married and bought our house last year. We’ve had SO many people ask if we’ll be making an announcement anytime soon

The truth is that these last few months have battered us mentally. We both feel knackered all the time, and we’re probably having slightly less sex than before lockdown! Plus with all the economic uncertainty, our jobs could be gone by the end of the year. Definitely doesn’t feel like the right time to have a child, for us.

I really wish people wouldn’t do that. We had comments from when DD was about 3 onwards about having another one. We wanted to wait until it was right for us (married and owning our own house) and then, when we did start TTC, we had an early loss and then a year of trying but not conceiving. Several people asked me during that time and it broke my heart every time.

People need to keep their noses out of it!

After it took £30k of Ivf to have my daughter and the fact that both myself and my husband are working as normal through lockdown I would have said no .....

However I'm now 7 weeks pregnant with twins 🤷

Apparently any increase in the birth rate among those who are partnered and live in the same house will be offset by a decrease among those who would maybe have got accidentally pregnant, especially teenagers who are less likely to be able to casually go out and break lockdown if they, and their boyfriend/girlfriend, are living with parents.

A baby bust is far more likely.

People tend to defer births in times of recession and uncertainty. Plus birth rates are generally trending downwards anyway.

I think the media gleefully spreads this titillating story of couples just at it like rabbits and then a massive spike in birth rates. In reality most people are too worried about their financial security and tired.

Having spent last night googling 'divorce', I beg to differ.

I fell pregnant just before lockdown but we were trying for a long time before that.

Every time someone makes a joke about it being a lockdown baby, I want to tell them to fuck off.

Careful what you say to people if they do announce they're pregnant, most people plan these things in advance.

I think people being stuck at home with their kids for several months might have the opposite effect.

There may be a Vasectomy Boom!

Apparently they're expecting a baby crunch rather than a boom. People are feeling less secure and worried about impacts on hospitals so a lot less people actively trying to conceive, less places for couples to meet so less Ooopsie babies and second kids i think parents are having enough.

Also I think most couples stuck at home together 24/7 isn't very condusive to romance. I reckon people are having less sex

I think there might be. I have seen a few fb posts saying people are pregnant. (I'm pregnant to but that was before we knew about coronovirus).
It probably depends how stable their jobs are though.

I found out I was pregnant a couple of weeks before lockdown, if it hadn't happened that month I think my partner and I would have put it off due to the uncertainty around covid.

I've had a few lockdown baby comments but it doesn't bother me that much. I agree that it's more likely to go the other way due to economic uncertainty, I guess we'll find out in a year's time!

I wondered this early on with reference to the 3 day weeks increasing birth rates 9 months after... but we have electricity, mobile phoned and Netflix today

No action here. Stuck in 24/7 withthe DCs and DH means I'm permanently peopled out.

I fell pregnant in the first week of lockdown after 18months trying and a referral for IVF. When I hear of people making jokes about ‘lockdown baby’ I find it incredibly hurtful. We have wanted this baby for so long and there was most definitely no ‘oops’

I imagine we will be the butt of these jokes when we announce our pregnancy but honestly it’s taken t shine off telling other people for me

I think a spike in pregnancies is possible, whether that will translate into live births I'm not sure.

Women conceiving who aren't in the best of health due to either covid or unable to access regular healthcare as easily as usual may result in more mc.

Also as pps say those couples who need help to conceive will have struggled to get that support so that will delay/impact them.

May also be more abortions due to concerns about health of mother, health of foetus plus economic uncertainty.

I think a more likely time for a baby boom (a small one nothing like the post war one) will be late 2021 as people return to "normal" and are less concerned about health issues and economy (If Brexit doesn't turn out as bad as feared economically too) and are back to meeting up for casual sex too.

If anything, the divorce rate will be going up yep! Can definitely see this happening! Not just due to time spent together in lockdown but because of poor economy again which puts additional pressure on relationships.

I heard on news earlier 600,000 jobs have been lost so far and that won't be the end of it.

Most people will also be aware that welfare support is likely to be further restricted as a result of the economic impact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this govt stepped up to a 1 child limit for children born from end of next year.

Contraception is generally speaking much more reliable than it was at the times of previous baby booms too.

Haven't we had this thread several times before?

No, I don't, in short. Being forced into lockdown with your partner is more likely to make you want to run for the hills than have sex with them. Nothing less sexy than forced cohabitation with no time to yourself.

Also people are skint and worried about their jobs, not conducive to wanting to start or extend families.

Think the divorce rate is more likely to spike than the birth rate.