Covid Baby Boom

[HedgehogPJs]

Just read an article on here suggesting there will be a Covid ‘baby boom’.
AIBU to expect the opposite?
You can’t get the vaccine while you’re pregnant or breastfeeding and they don’t recommend getting pregnant within 2 months of getting the second dose... so I would expect a drop in birth rates if anything?
What do you all think?

My midwife friend says her whole maternity unit is overly mobbed, with little staff.

I’m 8 weeks. All planned. I’m 29, so age isn’t an issue. It’s a personal decision that we made. I am able to work from home during pregnancy and that’s a massive bonus for me which I wouldn’t have otherwise had. We will also have a 3 year age gap that fits in with our plans.

I didn’t realise people would have an opinion on this to be honest, it’s a very personal choice.

Anecdotally there does seam to be an above average number of babies due next year - for me it was the nail in the coffin for any more.

I don’t blame anyone for not delaying. No way.

More I don’t think it’s conducive to convincing people to go for it when previously they hadn’t wanted to. That heady boom thing.

@Michaelbaubles

Well, it absolutely boggles my mind that people are purposely choosing to get pregnant during a pandemic knowing their maternity care must be compromised, so basically I don’t think people really think about it other than...they want a baby right now.

I am 42 and we'd been ttc our 2nd for 18mths and were under infertility care at the hospital which was cancelled due to Covid. Had it not happened miraculously when it did we would have almost definitely missed the boat. Your mind may boggle but when this baby arrives in 4wks time I'm positive I'll forever be grateful we didn't stop trying. Life goes on.

@HeyChubbee

Anecdotally there does seam to be an above average number of babies due next year - for me it was the nail in the coffin for any more.

You mean this year

I know a lot of people expecting a baby next year, but I think that might be very much skewed by age - half my year at university seems to be due their first next year, but they also all got married at once in 2019.

Oh, I said 'next year' when of course I mean this year too!

The report I read was pretty mixed. Established mostly 30 something couples have decided to go for it as they have got used to a quieter life but a decrease in teen/accidentally pregnancies due to less opportunities eg parents home/following lockdown rules and general lack of opportunity to meet new people and also ivf services were suspended for a while

We stopped trying for a while mid pandemic but age isn’t on my side. History of familial recurrent miscarriage and working frontline means we thought long and hard and restarted trying after the summer. I’m now 10/40 and have had virtual midwife appointments so far. Was due to be vaccinated early January so not sure now what will be done, as it’s now risk v benefit. We were desperate for this child.

Stop judging people 🙄 i am pregnant with a very much planned for baby. I have had multiple miscarriages in the last couple of years and didn't want to wait. I know lots of pregnant people but its none of my business if they were planned or not and quite frankly no one else's either. We don't know how long this pandemic will go on for. People have been putting their lives on hold for long enough.

You’re joking right? Most of my friends are divorcing/close to divorce/wanting to kill their husbands thanks to prolonged amounts of time at home 😬

@Mumtoalittlegirl

I’m 8 weeks. All planned. I’m 29, so age isn’t an issue. It’s a personal decision that we made. I am able to work from home during pregnancy and that’s a massive bonus for me which I wouldn’t have otherwise had. We will also have a 3 year age gap that fits in with our plans.

I didn’t realise people would have an opinion on this to be honest, it’s a very personal choice.

Just in case it's worried you - I remember being a bit upset in early pregnancy because MN was flooded with posts about what absolute idiots anyone getting pregnant must be and I wondered if everyone would think that; if anyone in my real life thought anything other than genuine congratulations they did an excellent job of hiding it and actually I know lots of other people having babies around the same time so, as so often, MN may not be fully representative... (And it's really easy to loftily proclaim on what you wouldn't have done if, like most MNers, your family is already complete - see also the many 'I wouldn't have babies now due to climate change/state of world' threads where people insist that they would never be stupid enough to have children now, they only had theirs because the world happened to be entirely perfect back in the heady days of 2010 or whatever...)

I’ve commented on a few threads about this exact topic now- they just keep coming

Midwife friend and Dr DH says there was a big boom during first lockdown (assume people thought it would be long over by now) so Jan-Mar the Labour wards are bracing themselves for sky high numbers.

Massively unhelpful given the current situation but then again the Labour ward is hardly set up to treat covid patients and midwives aren't generally transferable into ICU roles so I suppose not overly that bad.
Women requesting c-sections might get turned down as theatre staff are just not available but that’s about the worst of it. There certainly won’t be any extra beds going though so I bet there will be a lot of babies born en route to the hospital or at home, women no doubt being put off coming in until the last minute. I’d be pretty scared if it were me.

April onwards isn’t currently forecast high numbers (seems people realised covid was sticking around and the desire to procreate dwindled) but that could change. People might hear ‘vaccine’ and start trying again.

Fwiw I’m due number 2 in the summer. We had multiple other reasons why now worked best for us so I’m just accepting it might not be a perfect situation.

@Michaelbaubles

Well, it absolutely boggles my mind that people are purposely choosing to get pregnant during a pandemic knowing their maternity care must be compromised, so basically I don’t think people really think about it other than...they want a baby right now.

I am 38.5 and ttc DC1 now because if I don’t it might not happen at all. It took 8 months to conceive followed by a miscarriage 2 weeks ago. I am not waiting!

@Hardbackwriter well said!

"Midwife friend and Dr DH says there was a big boom during first lockdown (assume people thought it would be long over by now) so Jan-Mar the Labour wards are bracing themselves for sky high numbers."
Booking data up to June doesn't bear that out.

After over a year of trying unsuccessfully, I can't risk not trying for a year, I have no idea how long it's going to take me to get pregnant. I suspect lots of women feel the same

@StealthPolarBear

I can only speak for our city/area and not the whole country but that’s what my midwife friend told me and I can only assume she knows what she’s talking about!

Bit judgemental.

I'm 7 months pregnant and in my early thirties. We'd been trying before Covid - had a miscarriage in 2019. The thought of not trying again was out of the question for me - my MH was absolutely awful after the loss, plus I want more than one child in the future. Should I have just waited it out? And for how long exactly? It's not like the world's going back to normal any time soon.

My midwife care has been excellent and I'm having a homebirth. With luck, aside from scans, I won't have to step foot in a hospital.

This pregnancy has absolutely saved my life, I can't describe how lucky and joyful I am. Terribly sorry if that offends you!

There was a meme in lockdown saying there will be a baby boom but only of first born children 😂

I’m due in January and my midwife says numbers are about average. My care has been great- quieter waiting rooms have been great with people actually obeying the ‘Dont bring kids to ultrasounds’ guidance. Similar to pp I’ve enjoyed working from home and not having anything to miss out on. My DH usually works away a lot so lockdown was a golden opportunity for us to track my cycles and TTC

@StealthPolarBear

"Midwife friend and Dr DH says there was a big boom during first lockdown (assume people thought it would be long over by now) so Jan-Mar the Labour wards are bracing themselves for sky high numbers." Booking data up to June doesn't bear that out.

I've been trying to work it out but I think I had my booking appointment in July for a Feb due date, so data up to June might be a bit too early to tell whether there'll be a spring 2021 boom?

We had originally planned to start TTC our 2nd baby this month, but have decided to delay it a bit. I'm only 30, so can afford to wait, but we're going to revisit the idea in the spring because I don't want too big an age gap.