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Post-Lockdown Baby Boom 'Not E...

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Post-Lockdown Baby Boom 'Not Evident' In Ireland


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A post-lockdown baby boom is 'not evident' in Ireland.

It comes amid suggestions last year there could be a rise in pregnancy rates following the first lockdown last March and April.

However, figures in both the UK and Ireland suggest that hasn't happened.

In the UK, there's been a 4% decrease in the number of 12 week scans carried out in 2020 compared to 2019.

Here, a spokesperson for the Coombe Hospital said: "We’ve had a number of enquiries over the past year re a baby boom.

"It’s not evident here. Our bookings are on a par with last year’s."

The National Maternity Hospital says there's only been a 3% increase in the number of 12-week scans carried out in 2020 compared to 2019.

The Rotunda Hospital, meanwhile, says it estimates that between January and June there will be a 4.5% increase in births compared to the same period last year.

Estimates for this year are still speculative, but the hospital says it's still only expecting a 'marginal' increase compared to 2020.

Self-employed community midwife Aine Hennessy says there's been a noticeable increase in the demand for home births since the pandemic began.

She said: "In 2019, we had 254 women booked with the HSE Home Birth service.

"In 2020, we had 330 booked."

Main image: File photo. Picture by: Imaginechina/SIPA USA/PA Images

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