To wonder if there are fewer Jan - Apr babies in the September 2025 reception cohort?

[Spanielsandredwine]

Because of Covid?!

My daughter is starting school this year and during her final pre school year we went to lots of 4th birthday parties Sep 24 - Christmas time, and then absolutely zero between Christmas and Easter. Then loads again in spring & summer.

I mentioned it to another mum and she said maybe it's because people paused their ttc'ing when we went into lock down resulting in a dip in birth rates. We did the maths and seems plausible!!

Has anyone else noticed this with their September 2025 cohort? Any reception teachers that could confirm or deny?😂

I prefer data to anecdotes..
The AI summary from Google says:

• December 2020 & January 2021: These months saw an increase in the fertility rate in the UK.
• March 2021: There was a notable increase in births in March 2021.
• Nine Months After June 2020: The peaks in late 2020 and early 2021 were approximately nine months after the initial easing of lockdown restrictions in late June 2020.

I know the AI bit can spout rubbish though. Can't be bothered to look further at the stats.

It could also be:

• the impact of covid itself. When i had it it messed with my period for a few weeks and friends said the same
• i knew people who worried about the unknown impact of covid on fetuses, then the unknown impact of the vaccine, who may have delayed conceiving due to that

I think there might have been a few happy accidents during the lockdowns too. More couples at home with time on their hands

I sold baby stuff to a pregnant lady in 2020, her other kids were half way through primary. Baby wasn't planned!!!