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It's peak baby time, for crying out loud

August is the peak month for births nearly every year, with September not far behind

By LAURA MOYER

Date published: 8/4/2009

Rosa Lugo ties it to the Marine Corps ball she and husband Jose attended last Nov. 7.

It's nine months later. Today is her due date. Baby boy Daniel J. Lugo will soon be here, if he isn't already.

Two other Marine wives at that ball are also due to deliver this month, said Lugo, a Stafford County resident.

August mothers always have plenty of company in obstetricians' waiting rooms, birthing and breast-feeding classes, and hospital delivery suites.

According to state and national health statistics, August is almost always the peak month for births, nudged out only in rare years by a July or September peak.

The probable reason is just what you think it is.

Let's just say, We Know What You Did Last Winter.

Nine months before August, and what do you have? Cooler weather. Longer nights. The holidays coming, putting everyone in a jolly frame of mind.

"We know there are spikes in the summertime, and it's the same throughout the Northern Hemisphere," said Dr. Kurian Thott, an obstetrician-gynecologist based in Stafford.

In some cases, Thott said, moms-to-be say they planned their pregnancies so they'd deliver before the start of the school year. But often summer births are simply a byproduct of winter weather. When snowstorms hit, Thott said, obstetricians think to themselves, "We should be busy in about nine months."

At Woman's Health & Surgery Center, Thott's practice with Dr. Lia Shorter, this summer has brought a gradual increase of births by month: about 15 in June, almost 20 in July, about 20 expected this month, and more than 20 predicted for next month.

"If you have a waiting room full of pregnant women, you know it's got to be summer," Thott said.

When Lugo and her husband were trying to conceive a second child, she didn't really think about the fact that a winter conception would mean pregnancy and delivery at the sweatiest time of year.

Now, she gets it.

"I didn't really realize how miserable and hot I'd be," she said. "But it'll be worth it to see that little smile."

But being pregnant all summer hasn't fazed another August mom-to-be, Mindy Kelley of Stafford.

She and her husband, Billy, are boat- and beach-lovers, and so far her Aug. 30 due date hasn't kept the couple away from the water.

The Kelleys didn't set out to have an August baby, but they feel lucky that they're having one--a boy they plan to name Cade Calhoun Kelley.

They began trying after their second anniversary, Sept. 30, 2008. On Dec. 15, they found out Mindy was pregnant.

Since then, Mindy Kelley said, she's realized many acquaintances, and strangers, too, have August or September due dates.

"When you're pregnant, you notice that a lot of other people are pregnant, too," she said. "My husband and I know about 20 pregnant people."

As for carrying a baby in the summertime, Kelley is philosophical.

"It's hot, very hot. But I know I can't complain," she said. "I've actually enjoyed it. I love being pregnant."

Laura Moyer: 540/374-5417
Email: lmoyer@freelancestar.com

Between 1999 and 2007 in Virginia, August was the peak birth month six times. September was the peak month twice, and July once. Nationally, in 2006, the last year for which data are available, August also was the peak birth month. "The patterns do not change from year to year," noted Stephanie Ventura of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. "Births typically peak in August, followed closely by September," she said in an e-mail. --Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records; National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control

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Date published: 8/4/2009