HALIFAX – It seems the traditional kiss underneath the mistletoe is leading to something more for Nova Scotia couples.
Global News took a look at birth rates in the province for the last six years and found Nova Scotians are more likely to conceive babies in the last three weeks of the year.
It could be careful planning, a bit of extra spirit or a means to keep warm, but for whatever the reason there is a spike in birth rates come September.
In fact of the four provinces Global News examined – Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta included – Nova Scotia had the highest increase in seasonal conceptions, with 14.2 per cent more births than average occurring in the last three weeks of September.
“It’s a subtle pattern, and it’s probably a subtle pattern because we have so many other ways of controlling fertility right now,” explains Dr. Jennifer Blake, chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, “But we do see this, and there is speculation. We see this in the animal kingdom: seasonal variation in when young are born. There are questions around whether it’s because of melatonin (a chemical affected by light), whether there’s something that we’re still light-sensitive about that’s affecting our fertility or whether it’s the Christmas season, and people are in a partying mood.”
Lily Dunn, a lingerie store owner in Halifax, agrees the season can have an effect on couple getting in the mood for love.
“I really believe it’s the pressure of the season,” she says. “The pressure of the season and the weather.”
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She says her store gets a lot busier this time of year.
“They say ‘I’m going to buy something from you and I’m the Christmas gift this year.”
But Rachel Dodds, owner of Sexy Girl Party Service and a regular contributor on a local radio station thinks the conception numbers aren’t necessarily by chance.
She thinks people are thinking about their lives and family during the holiday season.
“It’s around that time when you make a decision that’s going to impact your New year,” Dodds says. “Either you’re cleaning your house or maybe you’re moving forward with your relationships.”
The holiday baby making spirit seems to wear off by late February and early March.
In a separate pattern, births on or around Christmas Day itself were well below average in all four provinces.
*With files from Patrick Clark and Mayya Assouad
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