ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609160036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
THIS MONTH and next, doctors are expecting a 20 percent increase in births.
Last winter's harsh weather produced more than snow, cold and howling winds. Hospital maternity wards in Virginia are expecting a baby boomlet.
Columbia Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond already has experienced an increase in births and expects the numbers to keep rising in relation to the severity of the conditions, hospital spokesman John Mitchell said Friday.
``There is some speculation that it's related,'' said Mitchell. ``We really don't expect to get the full effect of it until next month.
``About seven years ago we had three snowstorms in 10 days, and we had the same kind of pattern,'' he said.
Dr. Philip Minor, a Richmond gynecologist, said spikes in births are normal after storms.
``Anything which takes away other forms of entertainment makes us turn towards each other,'' he said. ``I remember several storms that did seem to make my office very full a few months later. My patients would say, `Oh shucks, I just took a chance.'''
Fairfax Hospital, which has the third-largest number of births in the country, is gearing up for the baby rush.
Eileen Andreoli, patient care director of labor delivery and recovery, said she was expecting a 20 percent increase in births for the end of September and October.
``We're taking it seriously,'' she said. ``We're going to try to think ahead.''
Dr. James W. Banks III, a Roanoke obstetrician, said the link between being stuck at home and increased pregnancies was first noted decades ago after a blackout left much of New York paralyzed.
At his practice, pregnancies due in October and November are about double the normal rate, he said.
``People really were holed up in their house with nothing else to do,'' he said.
Banks said he did not think there would be a similar spike nine months after Hurricane Fran brought torrential rains and flooding to the state.
``It's not as common with hurricanes and floods because people are trying to save themselves,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB