Hospitals in Chicago are noticing a few more babies than they are accustomed to this time of the year, but one look at the calendar and some simple math can probably explain what’s going on: Chicago Cubs fans were making babies to celebrate the long-awaited World Series championship last fall.
Yes, it has been nine months since the Cubs outlasted the Cleveland Indians in a memorable World Series, and baby-making timeline for the babies scheduled for delivery between this month and the beginning of August falls in line with that extra inning Game 7 victory. This is far from scientific enough to tie the increase in babies on the way and the Cubs’ World Series run, but it’s about as darn close as you can get.
From The Chicago Tribune;
At Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, doctors say they’ve noticed the number of deliveries going up and expect the trend to continue through August. Between July 10 and 18, the stretch with the highest surge, the hospital had almost double the amount of deliveries each day compared with its normal average, said Dr. Melissa Dennis, vice chairwoman of obstetrics and gynecology. While she can’t scientifically link the birth increase to the World Series, she said those babies’ due dates could have easily fallen on July 26 — exactly 38 weeks after Game 7. An average pregnancy is 38 to 40 weeks depending on how it is measured.
Championships do seem to have a way of kickstarting a mini baby boom when a team wins it all. Take Boston for example, where in 2005, there was a sudden burst in sales for Red Sox baby apparel nine months after the Red Sox ended their drought.
The next phase of this story will come when we start seeing the names children in Chicago are being given upon birth. We can probably expect to see an increase in Kyles (Kyle Schwarber) and Joes (Joe Maddon) for the boys, at least.
Stay tuned.
