Maternity hospitals in Finland are experiencing a surge of births during the summer. Combined with a seasonal shortage of hospital staff, this has sometimes caused problems at hospitals. There has also been an overall increase in births, although it would be premature to talk about any kind of baby boom in Finland. In the first half of this year there were nearly 30,000 births, which is 1.5 percent more than in the January-June period in 2007. The number of births is the highest since 1997. At the Tampere University Hospital, for instance, the number of births is expected to exceed 5,000 for the first time ever this year. The legendary "Midsummer rush" at Finnish hospitals (involving births of babies supposedly conceived by parents celebrating the summer solstice) is no longer a reality at Finnish maternity wards - if it ever was true. Now the trend seems to be for more actual births to take place in the summer. The trend is seen to reflect an increasing popularity in family planning. Many couples want to time the birth of their children so that the mother's maternity leave coincides with the father's summer holiday. The trend is also seen to reflect the ongoing economic slowdown. Families, which focus on amassing money when times are good, often start having children when the economy takes a dip. YLE
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