As the classic holiday song goes, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” While it’s not exactly the holiday season yet, for thousands of new parents and parents to be – not to mention grandparents and siblings – the months of August and September provide the ultimate in gift giving. Birth rates traditionally spike, and parents take home bundles of joy.
About four million babies are born in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and birth rates are higher in August and September.
Baptist Hospital of Miami [1]has already seen an increase this baby bump season, with 407 babies born in August, significantly higher than the hospital average of 345 deliveries so far in 2013. A significant increase is also expected for the month of September. Mirroring national statistics, birth rates are also increasing overall, after years of shrinking numbers that corresponded with the down economy. Homestead Hospital [2]and West Kendall Baptist Hospital [3]also have seen record increases so far this year.
In August and September, the number of births can rise between 10 and 15 percent said Rene Paez, M.D., [4]chief of obstetrics and gynecology at South Miami Hospital’s Center for Women and Infants [5].
Why, the baby boom? If you do the math, you find that these little elves were conceived during the previous holiday season, and with good reason, say doctors and patients. Couples take time off from work to be home with their families, take vacations and simply relax and enjoy being together.
Some couples also make a conscious decision to expand their families, said Baptist Hospital obstetrician Jason James, M.D. [6] “People always seem to be in a good mood around the holidays, and often will make plans to start a family,” he said.
The result for doctors can be a combination of hectic and rewarding, with an occasional bit of comedy thrown in. Dr. James has baby boom memories that still make him laugh. On an August weekend during his second year in practice, Dr. James was on call. He got a call from one patient in labor, then another and another, and still a couple more. What happened next was a combination of I Love Lucy and Marcus Welby, M.D.
“They were just back to back to back, one right after the other. I was literally catching one and running to the next room to catch the next, telling one mom to push and the other to stop pushing,” he recalls.
On a busy weekend on call, doctors may deliver two to four babies in a weekend. Dr. James delivered five that day.
Parents like Gabriela Guiu-Garcia and her husband Gabriel Garcia gladly take responsibility for their part in creating the baby boom. The couple has personally contributed – not once, but twice – to the statistics, with another child arriving the first week of October.
Their most recent addition, Zachary, was born Aug. 21 at South Miami Hospital [7]. Ms. Guiu-Garcia believes that all her children, particularly Zachary, were a direct result of spending quality time with family during the holidays. While the holidays can be a source of incredible stress for those who climb onto the hamster wheel of endless shopping and planning, she says, they can also be the ideal time to start and expand a family.
Their first child, Sofia, now 7, was born on Aug. 13. Likewise, Olivia, who turns 5 Oct. 7, was likely a product of holiday time off.
After suffering a miscarriage in 2011, Ms. Guiu-Garcia said, “I guess I always had that feeling that I wanted to have another one.”
Although the couple tried, nothing happened. Problems with her thyroid, as well as fibroids, were affecting their ability to conceive. The process and the disappointment became stressful.
Ms. Guiu-Garcia, a fourth grade teacher at the Academy for International Education Charter School in Miami Springs, said she thought about how grateful she was for her two daughters and decided to relax and enjoy the holiday season. Her husband, a Miami-Dade County police detective, also took time off.
In January, she discovered she was pregnant, and the couple finally had a boy.
“We’re super ecstatic.”
Zachary, she says, was a gift that came in part from spending time with their large close-knit family, enjoying the parties, holiday traditions and relaxation.
“I didn’t go on a vacation to relax. We went through the holidays with the family. I was able to relieve the stress.”