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Covid Baby Boom

153 replies

HedgehogPJs · 01/01/2021 17:16

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?

OP posts:
icingcupcake · 01/01/2021 22:09

I would have thought a balancing act between contraception less accessible, couples spending more time together indoors with the fact many will have put off TTC for various reasons linked to the pandemic. Also less people forming new relationships, having flings or casual sex.

Will be interesting to see..

Funkypolar · 01/01/2021 22:11

I do love when people who already have children post on these kind of posts saying how dare we have a baby in lockdown. But it’s okay for them as they already have children.

FelicityBob · 01/01/2021 22:12

I’m a midwife. The covid baby boom is very real.

HedgehogPJs · 01/01/2021 22:25

Ohh very interesting points re:
Interruption of contraceptive services
Interruption of fertility services
Less teen pregnancies
Less one night stands
More first time babies
Less siblings due to homeschooling 😂
Less sex due to too much time with spouse
More sex due to nothing else to do!

It might all just even out I guess.
Just to clarify as well, I’m not judging anyone for being or getting pregnant, I just find it interesting and was talking to DH about whether he thought there’d be a ‘slump’ in births then saw the article saying there will be a boom! Absolutely no judgement here. I have two already and can’t say I would have waited if I’d been planning either of them this year, especially knowing it can take a while to happen. Best of luck to all the pregnant ladies on this thread, wishing you happy healthy pregnancies and births.

OP posts:
Hardbackwriter · 01/01/2021 22:29

@FelicityBob

I’m a midwife. The covid baby boom is very real.
I wonder whether a factor in this is also that births have been decreasing every year since 2015, with 2019 the lowest number of births in England since 2004 - I guess this is going to make any reversal of the trend and increase in 2020 and this year feel more extreme?
olderthanyouthink · 01/01/2021 23:05

I think some people may have TTC earlier because of cancelled wedding and they can't afford to wait longer but then saying that some may have delayed wedding plans and kicked TTC down the road too

Firebird83 · 01/01/2021 23:08

I’m due to have fertility treatment in the spring. I’ve been on the waiting list for a while as treatment was delayed during the first lockdown, so I don’t really want to wait any longer.

mydogisthebest · 01/01/2021 23:10

I can't believe so many are that stupid and selfish.

Turtletortle · 01/01/2021 23:46

@mydogisthebest

I can't believe so many are that stupid and selfish.
I can’t believe you’re so judgemental and on your high horse given that you know exactly nobody’s circumstances or reasons.
ChikiTIKI · 02/01/2021 00:03

Anecdotally I know of...

Loads of people in our church having babies from January to March, and a few more March to May. Over 12 people.
A sonographer I met at a wedding in July told me that she was doing loads of extra 12 week scans at the time.
A relative and a friend both mentioned it suddenly being quiet in their maternity jobs a clue of weeks ago at different hospitals (9 months after the initial scary panic buying bit).
Definitely expecting a big baby boom this month, 9 months after the great weather, start of furlough, and the "still thinking this pandemic thing would only last a few weeks" time.

I think 9 months from now in September/October 2021 when it's usually busy on maternity wards might be quieter than normal. Morale is generally quite low and lots of people are struggling financially now.

Another strange thing for maternity is that from now, for a few months, there will be no IVF babies being born because that was all stopped for a while.

ChikiTIKI · 02/01/2021 00:06

Also I don't think it's selfish at all... So many people, me included never thought the pandemic would last anywhere near this long. Lots of people take a long time to get pregnant or can't afford to wait any longer. And some people who were never allowed to work from home before and who get awful morning sickness might have decided to take the opportunity to get pregnant now so they don't have to face being sick on the train to work, at work, on the train home, etc etc.

2020quelhorreur · 02/01/2021 07:29

I’m not clear why midwives would be any more busy during a pandemic either? Where I live, they usually have to cover a huge area to do home visits - most of those have been scrapped. We now have to go to the local hospital, which is absolutely fine, but put all the travel time on women not the midwives. They’re keyworkers so their children have had access to school throughout. Many appointments are now on phone - again has to be a timesaver. I can’t see any circs where midwives would be pulled across to ICU. So genuinely - given that the stats don’t actually support a baby boom - why are they busier than usual?

Ridcully82 · 02/01/2021 07:54

@2020quelhorreur

I’m not clear why midwives would be any more busy during a pandemic either? Where I live, they usually have to cover a huge area to do home visits - most of those have been scrapped. We now have to go to the local hospital, which is absolutely fine, but put all the travel time on women not the midwives. They’re keyworkers so their children have had access to school throughout. Many appointments are now on phone - again has to be a timesaver. I can’t see any circs where midwives would be pulled across to ICU. So genuinely - given that the stats don’t actually support a baby boom - why are they busier than usual?
Partly because they're dealing with members of the public,and partners, for hours on end without great ventilation,relying on the fact that the women and partners have been sensible and not infected(yes they have PPE, but nit infallible)Oh,and duel registered can be pulled to other wards,and low staff numbers due to isolation,and burn out from the last ten months. That'll probably do for starters?
JanewaysBun · 02/01/2021 08:39

I might try for a baby to be born Oct 2021 onwards.. Not sure atm ...

If I were genuinely wanting to ttc I wouldn't let covid put me off unless I had underlying issues. Women are having babies in war zones all over the world....

Ginandshinythings · 02/01/2021 08:51

I had my first baby June 2018, the hospital was so busy they closed the delivery suite and ward to anyone else, I was already on the ward starting the induction process and had been told the delivery suite was full... However, they juggled it well and everyone was fine.
My next baby is due in June again this year, so apart from my husband probably not aloud on the ward I'm not expecting much difference. Many women are being discharged from the delivery suites, so I'm hoping the wards will be less busy. Il be having a c section, so my biggest concern is getting through that first night on the ward, compared to what some people are going through with covid it's not a huge deal.

I'm sure some of these posters calling pregnant women selfish, purely do it for a reaction.

User158340 · 02/01/2021 08:56

I'd guess there'll be a lot of babies born over the next couple of months, conceived during the first lockdown when there was nothing else to do.

CakeRequired · 02/01/2021 11:36

It's obviously area-specific and I wouldn't have complained if they had been cut, but actually where I am the service hasn't been cut at all and has been excellent. As I said upthread, it's been much better than the care I got in a different area in 2018; comparing the two I now feel like maybe I should have complained about that!

That's good that your area wasn't cut, it shouldn't have been, but a lot were. It was in my area, and honestly the health care is questionable outside of covid, let alone with covid. It's sad how bad its gotten here actually.

2020quelhorreur · 02/01/2021 13:28

@Ridcully82 yes, but the low numbers issue isn’t a pandemic issue, is it? As in, that’s been an ongoing problem for years (not that it is justified obvs) but I don’t see that as a “pandemic” problem. And the midwives in my area seem to be do both hospital and community based work, and can’t see how the community based work hasn’t been substantially reduced. (Of course, midwives don’t want it reduced, but that doesn’t alter the fact that it has been.)

PolkadotGiraffe · 02/01/2021 13:50

@stopchewingeverything

Only a small number of babies are actually planned, the vast majority aren't. The boom is from lockdown and people having more sex as they can't go out.
According to NHS stats only a third of babies born are unplanned. I'm quite surprised it's that high tbh!
NoMoreHoney · 02/01/2021 14:05

Our baby is due in early Feb.

I've had over 10 miscarriages in the last 3 years trying for this miracle. I apologise if you think it makes me selfish and stupid but I wasn't going to stop now because of Covid.

As per PP, my maternity care has actually been brilliant throughout, I'm very grateful. I'm sure that's area reliant but it hasn't all been bad every where.

Covid or no Covid, I'm so very thankful to be so close to the end of what's been an absolutely devastating and heartbreaking few years for me and DH.

I'm also young and very low down on vaccine priority list even without being pregnant so that hasn't bothered me.

user1477391263 · 02/01/2021 14:08

The overwhelming opinion of demographers and those who study these matters seems to be that there will be a baby bust in most developed countries (and probably across some of the less developed world as well, though some poor countries may see upticks in births).

There will be a small number of contraceptive accidents and people who were planning a baby anyway and decided to bring it forward because "This year and the year after are going to be rubbish for careers, eating out, travel and social life---why not do the baby stuff right now?"

However, all in all births will almost certainly fall. Due to:

Worries about getting the virus while pregnant

Worries about birth and the baby experience being bloody miserable due to all the rules

Lockdown stress

Severe economic uncertainties (and I mean severe---we are staring down the barrel of a massive recession right now)

General drumbeat of doom (if pandemics are possible, what's the next black swan going to be? War with China? Mass power outages? Supervolcano eruption? God knows what?)

General sense that families with young kids seem to be at the bottom of the priority pile right now. Even that stupid NHS clapping thing---timed right for the toddler's bedtime, fucking brilliant idea. After parents have been going out of their mind trying to WFH while said toddler trashes the place and launches themselves off the furniture. A little thing, but just so symptomatic of the way exhausted parents have been treated throughout this nightmare.

Looking at the historical perspective, disasters and pandemics nearly always result in a fall in the birthrate and fertility rate, contrary to what some people like to believe. The post-WWII baby boom was highly unusual, and was caused by a set of very particular factors which are not in place right now. The financial crisis of 2008 is a better analogy, frankly. From 2010 onwards, the fertility rate in most countries started dropping fast and actually never recovered (= as soon as the real-world consequences of the crash started to be felt, people started planning fewer pregnancies). We will probably see something similar after this.

Some individual hospitals have been excitedly reporting "baby booms" but this is almost certainly misleading. COVID-related factors-the fact that some hospitals may have reduced maternity coverage, or had restrictions in place which were particularly unappealing to families, or became known as COVID hotspotswill have caused some families to switch towards certain hospitals in preference to others. So some individual hospitals will have noted increases in births, but this is not the same as an overall baby boom.

user1477391263 · 02/01/2021 14:13

www.times-standard.com/2019/10/19/myth-busting-dont-expect-a-local-baby-boom-9-months-after-blackout/

Also, power outage baby booms are an urban legend.

Youreatragedystartingtohappen · 02/01/2021 14:20

@NoMoreHoney

Our baby is due in early Feb.

I've had over 10 miscarriages in the last 3 years trying for this miracle. I apologise if you think it makes me selfish and stupid but I wasn't going to stop now because of Covid.

As per PP, my maternity care has actually been brilliant throughout, I'm very grateful. I'm sure that's area reliant but it hasn't all been bad every where.

Covid or no Covid, I'm so very thankful to be so close to the end of what's been an absolutely devastating and heartbreaking few years for me and DH.

I'm also young and very low down on vaccine priority list even without being pregnant so that hasn't bothered me.

Congratulations, wishing you a happy and healthy rest of your pregnancy and safe arrival of your baby xx
Preg19 · 02/01/2021 15:02

@mydogisthebest

I can't believe so many are that stupid and selfish.
Wow what an ignorant comment to make
Mybobowler · 02/01/2021 15:23

Some really charming comments in this thread Hmm we did wait for most of 2020 to start trying for our second, but it's increasingly clear that covid isn't going anywhere fast. Meanwhile, life continues, as it is always has.