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Denmark expecting a baby boom this summer

Christian Wenande
June 1st, 2016


This article is more than 8 years old.

Year could end up with 60,000 babies born for the first time in years

The maternity wards in Danish hospitals are in for a busy time this summer, according to a new report compiled by Politiken Research.

In the months of June, July and August, over 1,200 more children will be born in Denmark than was the case during the same months last year. Some 16,200 summer babies in total are scheduled to be born.

“I’ve never experienced a boom like this in my time as a midwife,” Ann Fogsgaard – a midwife with 33 years of experience, who works at the maternity ward at Herning/Holstebro – told Politiken newspaper.

“Normally, there are more births during the summer compared to the winter, but an increase like this is crazy.”

READ MORE: Danish families choosing private maternity clinics over hospitals

A record year?
The birth figures are based on pregnancy prognoses gathered from the nation’s 21 maternity wards.

The maternity ward in Herning/Holstebro is expecting a 14 percent increase in babies during the summer months compared to last year. Just looking at August, the increase will be 25 percent.

There has already been a spike in births this year. According to figures from the national statistics keeper Danmarks Statistik, there were almost 1,000 more babies born during the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year.

If the trend continues, the annual number of births in Denmark will exceed 60,000 for the first time in years. The rise follows a lull in births. In 2013, just 55,873 babies were born – the lowest number since 1987.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”