It has been a couple of weeks now since Sandy visited the East Coast. Tens of billions of dollars in damage, more than 100 deaths, people left with nothing. A catastrophe…

I thought I would bring a cheerful note focusing on babies (as always)…

Being close to delivering during Sandy (and with no light at home), I had plenty of time to think about the alleged effect of storms on pregnancy, birth rates, etc. And there is plenty of things to be said.

First question: will Sandy cause a “baby boom” in 9 months ? The answer is not obvious.

On one side you have the arguments against. On the Internet, you can read serious studies that show how psychological stress negatively affect the semen quality and fertility as a whole (and Sandy was VERY stressful). You can also read some recent statistics survey conducted in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast counties of the USA that show that severe storm warnings negatively affect birth rate as well.

On the other side, you have the arguments that support a possible expected increase in births due to Sandy. The first most obvious one, supported by scientific research on “terror management theory” is that feeling “mortal” might increase the desire for children (a concept very easy to understand intuitively). You can also find a few examples of local stories telling how an hospital has witnessed more births 9 months after a specific event (the most frequently quoted is the one hospital that reported almost twice as much as births 9 months after Cyclone Yasi struck Australia in February 2011).

Well… I don’t think there is enough material evidence to safely state that a big storm do cause a baby boom… But what makes Sandy much more than a huge storm, is the long black out that followed. Millions of people were left with no power for weeks. And that, my friends, is definitely a “baby boomer”… It ‘s dark, you just have the light of a couple of candles, you are bored, you are stuck home… you are basically left with one thing to do…

Second question: did Sandy make more women deliver ? Well.. there again… the answer is not that simple…

There is that old myth that during a storm a pregnant woman is more likely to deliver… I read all kind of scientific explanations about the barometric pressure causing the membranes of the amniotic sac to break.. Other studies say that mammals have stress hormones that prevent from going into labor… But then, you read all those stories about hospital staff being swamped during storms… And to make it even more mystical, Sandy happened during full moon…

One thing for sure, fortunately, I did not break my water during Sandy and when I asked my doctor, he said it was pretty quiet during the storm…

So so so… It is hard to differentiate what is scientifically proven from the fairy tales, but it is a good opportunity to look at a few items that will help us for the future. Apparently we’d better get used to extreme weather. One storm a year will be the new normal blah blah blah… Well if that is the case, here are a few items to have for the next ones (and no I am not talking about the classic survival kit):

-       “luxe faux fur sleeping bag” from Restoration Hardware Baby. Very helpful if, like me, you happen to have friends willing to welcome you and your family during the storm.

-       “chilly pillow – brrr.. it’s cold outside!” from Land of Nod. By the way they have a pop-up store on Spring street until December 27.

-       And if you want to start rebuilding when you don’t have any electricity at home, and if you are tired of the good old Lego… go for the magnetic wooden Tegu blocks !

Love,

S. (and P. as well for the nerdy aspect of the article)