Doctors, hospitals report flurry of blizzard babies

[snopes]

Nine months after back-to-back blizzards brought life to a near-standstill in much of eastern Colorado, some doctors and hospitals say they're seeing one more bit of fallout: lots of babies.

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/art...om0927-ON.html

[barbrainey]

The belief that being shut in during a blizzard causes couples to have sex more often, resulting in a "baby blizzard" nine months later is an old myth.

I remember reading about an anticipated "baby blizzard" in Chicago in October of 1967, nine months after a severe blizzard stalled the city. Newspaper headings would read something like, "Snow Storm Brings Baby Blizzard."

It's nothing new.

B. A. Rainey

[Artemis]

Doesn't that also assume that during blizzards, etc., that people suddenly stop using birth control? Granted, it might be harder to get to condoms, but a lot of people carry condoms around. And if you're on the pill or a hormonal method, then being in a blizzard probably won't make a difference.

[Eddylizard]

I've often thought it not so much of a co-incidence that maybe 80% of the people I know from the Isle of Man has a birthday in March, which is nine months after June, which is when they shut the roads for the TT and no-one can get out to do anything. My theory hasn't gained much credence amongst the natives though.

[snopes]

I thought the idea was more people are stuck together with nothing better to do.

We don't get many blizzards around these parts, but as far as I know (unless they're accompanied by prolonged power outages) they don't cause televisions, radios, CD/MP3 players, VHS/DVD players, the Internet, playing cards, board games, books, and all other forms of entertainment to disappear or stop functioning.

- snopes

[Artemis]

I thought the idea was more people are stuck together with nothing better to do.

That's what I thought the idea was, too. But, as I pointed out, people in blizzards ostensibly use birth control, right? Why are they then more likely to conceive kids?

Depending where in Colorado you are, the power does actually tend to go out for somewhat prolonged periods during the really big blizzards. Not so much in the cities, but definitely in the towns further out. And in some specific parts of some cities... my area of Colorado Springs has pretty old construction overall, so even during good weather it's not unheard of to have a couple hour blackout over a few block area. Had one just last week actually lol... first a flicker where the power was out for maybe 5 minutes, then later that day it was out for like an hour.

Course I don't really buy into the whole blizzard babies thing... I think if you're expecting a sudden influx of babies, it'll make normal traffic so to speak look heavier than it really is if that makes sense.

[snopes]

I'm not sure of all the details, but what my wife tells me is that the biggest increase is in first time parents. That is, this is their first child. I guess not every person is on hormonal birth control.

There are plenty of non-hormonal forms of birth control (everything from withdrawal to condoms), the relative efficacy of which is not affected by snowstorms or power outages. If they failed during a blizzard, they'd have been failing at the same rate both before and after the blizzard.

- snopes

[Debunker]

Authorities scrambled Wednesday to airlift condoms and other emergency health supplies to victims of Thailand's worst floods in decades to prevent a feared surge in unplanned pregnancies.

“Local volunteers told us that villagers have nothing to do during the floods, so to prevent a baby boom we added condoms too,” an official at the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand told AFP.

http://money.bangkokpost.com/lite/to...-flood-victims

I don't know about anyone else, but if my home was flooded, my livelihood damaged, and I was living in a camp, I don't think I'd be in the mood.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Debunker

I don't know about anyone else, but if my home was flooded, my livelihood damaged, and I was living in a camp, I don't think I'd be in the mood.

Me neither. I would also think privacy would be an issue.

[zman977]

The stories of a baby boom are starting to appear from last February's midwest blizzard. Snopes even gets a mention.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...ng-event-spike

[FormicaArchonis]

Originally Posted by zman977

The stories of a baby boom are starting to appear from last February's midwest blizzard. Snopes even gets a mention.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...ng-event-spike

Is it wrong that the opening quote annoys the hell out of me?

"When I look back now, I remember my husband and I got some good quality time together."

There's just so many things wrong with that sentence. Did she not remember it until recently? When I think about everything I've ever done that had repercussions months down the road, I never use the phrase "When I look back now," unless the outcome was NOT what I was expecting.

If I said "When I look back now, I remember getting this job." to someone at work they'd be expecting a punchline or a cynical comment or a resignation letter. The statement means nothing by itself. "The effect had a cause." Is it supposed to be code for "LOL we sex0red!" or something?

And remember it or not, would she ever say the opposite? "No, we didn't really do anything around that time. Surprised? You BET he was!"

"We thought we were done having children. This snowstorm baby was a blessed surprise."

Granted I know nothing about their reproductive history other than having two kids, but I can't help but parse that sentence as either "Help me I have no idea how babies are made and it keeps happening." or "How do I tell the newspaper that the kid was an accident without actually saying that?"

[snopes]

When the weather gets cold and the nights draw in, there isn’t always a great deal to do beyond getting an early night.

This may be the factor behind claims that recent colder winters have contributed to a boom in the birthrate.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-40-years.html