Birthing Trends and Other Interesting Factoids

The CDC recently published preliminary results on birthing trends in the US and they’ve identified some surprising findings:

• 4.1 million births occurred in 2004, 1% more than in 2003. Are we seeing another baby boom?
• Child-bearing by unmarried women reached a record high: almost 1.5 million births in 2004, up 4% from 2003. Kudos to all the single-moms, and BOO-HISS-HISS-BOO! to all the dead-beat dads!
• The most common day for a child to be born: TUESDAY! Yes, Bella was born on Tuesday August 16, 2005.
• Most newborns arrive in the late summer/early fall months. Let’s see…what’s going on 9 months prior in November and December?Who conceived on vacation? Or during the dreary winter months?
• Over the last three decades, women have been waiting longer to become moms. In 1970, the average age for a first-time mother was about 21 — today, she's more likely to be 25 to 29 years old. How old were you when your first child was born? Or how old would you want to be when you have your first child?
• Birth rates for women aged 35 to 39 are higher than ever and continue to grow. The number of moms in their 40s is also on the rise — the birth rate for women aged 40 to 44 has gone up more than 51 percent since 1990, mostly thanks to fertility treatments. It’s never too late!
• Boy babies outnumber girl babies, with about 1,049 males for every 1,000 females — a ratio that's stayed about the same over the past 60 years. Apparently this trend doesn’t apply to my friends, because we’ve all had (or will have) girls!
• The rate of c-sections has increased by more than 40 percent in the last decade to 29 percent of births, the highest rate ever reported in the United States. Who would opt for an elective c-section to avoid the pain of labor?
• More babies are being born prematurely. The preterm delivery rate has gone up more than 30 percent since 1981. In 2004, about 12.5 percent of births were early arrivals (most moderately early, from 32 to 36 weeks).
• The average weight-gain for moms-to-be is 30 pounds. I won’t disclose how much I gained, but tell us how much you gained!