After the big freeze, the baby boom

Midwives and economists are predicting a major baby boom this autumn following the “big freeze” in which heavy snow and icy roads have kept millions of Britons indoors.

16 Jan 2010

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -boom.html

Maternity services are preparing for a surge in conceptions among couples who have been confined to their homes for long nights and cosy days during the coldest winter for almost five decades.

Studies abroad have identified a sharp rise in the number of births nine months after heavy snow, as well as after major power cuts.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is predicting the same pattern in Britain, resulting in a “double whammy” hitting maternity wards this autumn, just as they recover from a regular peak in births following conceptions over the Christmas holidays.
For thousands denied heating as well as television and radio during this month’s repeated power cuts, the chance to find alternative sources of warmth and entertainment will have proved irresistable, say midwives.