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May 02, 2005
Pending Baby Boom?
Since my son's presently working in a military NICU*, this caught my eye.
American soldiers returning to their German base from Iraq are undergoing their own small "baby boom," becoming parents in such numbers as to strain the resources of the base military hospital.
This hospital normally has 1-2 births per month. They're now expecting around 40 per month. I haven't seen any figures for other comparable military bases, but I would expect them to be similar for returning soldiers.
I've also noticed a growing trend towards larger families generally. Families that 10 yrs. ago would've had 1-2 children are now having 3-4....or more. Which got me thinking.
Are we heading into another baby boom like post-WWII?
Maybe so. After all, there are several similarities between now and the post-WWII era. Society is becoming more conservative and more family oriented. The economy is doing fairly well. And we've thousands of soldiers returning from war.
It would be interesting to compare birth rate figures, at least.
**Newborn Intensive Care Unit, for my non-medical readers.
And let me tell you, I can't get used to hearing my footloose & fancy-free son saying "Oops, Mom, I've got to go. One of my babies needs a diaper change." It just sounds so.....funny.
Posted by Rita at May 2, 2005 05:13 AM