Women Born in Summer Have Fewer Children

[CShine]

LONDON (Reuters) - Women with summer birthdays tend to have fewer children than those born during other months of the year, according to an Austrian study published on Thursday.

Researchers who studied birth records of 3,000 Austrian women found that birthdays had an impact on reproduction and that females born between June and August had fewer children than other women.

"We found that the women born in July had 0.3 fewer children per woman than those born in December, or to put it another way, 13.4 percent fewer of the 2.24 mean number per women overall," said Dr Susanne Huber of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna.

She added that the findings, which are reported in the journal Human Reproduction, support the results of earlier studies of birth month and reproduction.



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=751&e=1&u=/nm/20040428/hl_nm/health_childbirth_dc

[aquart]

1. Okay, that's just odd.

[daleo]

2. 3000 seems like a small sample

It is interesting, but I don't know how robust the results really are. It seems like a study like this could easily be done with a bigger sample, over a longer time frame.

[mindfulNJ]

3. umm...

and this is important BECAUSE?...:shrug:

[soothsayer]

4. I'd attribute it to memories of mom being verrrry uncomfortable being

pregnant in the summer. At least for warm climes. Seriously, that has GOT to be uncomfortable.

[Blasphemer]

5. That's what my mom says...

BUT, even though she was pregnant during the summer, we weren't born until the fall.

[mindfulNJ]

6. It's not about being pregnant in summer...

it's being BORN in summer. If you are a woman BORN in summer you tend to have fewer children..at ANY time of the year.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

7. It applies to me

I was born in August, and as fate would have it, I'm unable to have children at all. C'est la vie (but I guess not for me).

[kodi]

8. sorry, mom was born on july 26, and squeezed out 6 pups.

.

[darkstar]

9. Hey kodi!

Your mom shares a b-day w/ me and my grandma!

[kodi]

11. mom? is that you? dammit, stop spending my inheritance!

.

[Piperay]

10. Well...

my mother was born in November and only had two, so I think this study is flawed. :P x(

[Misunderestimator]

12. Born in June.... Zero kids n/t

[Stuckinthebush]

13. Statistically significant but practically insignificant

Does anyone know the effect size on this study?