Chippenham Hospital experiences September baby boom

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A boom in the delivery room! Did you know that September is the busiest month of the year for baby deliveries in Virginia and across most of the country? The delivery rush is a familiar one for the doctors and nurses at Chippenham Hospital.

"You never know what you're going to get -- it's always in flux. And so I think as soon as you walk into that floor, you’re kind of prepared," said Dr. Michelle Wood, an OBGYN at Chippenham Hospital.

Wood has been delivering babies for 22 years, and she says that while the unexpected is always welcome, there's one thing they can often count on -- a September baby boom.

"It is now only Sept. 12, and we've had almost the same number of deliveries that we had in August. And we actually have more deliveries in September than we had for all of July," Wood noted.

According to Parents.com data, nine of the top 10 birth dates from 1994 to 2014 fell within a two-week period, between Sept. 9 and Sept. 20.

There are several theories as to why September is the most popular month for birthdays in the U.S. One reason, Wood says, is that being pregnant in the summer can be difficult, so many expecting parents prefer to have their baby born in the warmer months. But there’s more to this seasonal trend than just a due date preference.

"We think fertility may be higher in the colder months, which means that people are having babies in the summer months," Wood explained.

The holiday season also plays a part.

"People getting together, families getting together, kind of that closeness of the holidays and whatnot just creates new pregnancies, which we always love to see as OBGYNs," Wood said.

Everything can change in an instant on the labor and delivery floor, which is why having a strong and reliable team is crucial on any given day.

"If we have more people that are delivering, we call people in from home. You know, we have people who are very cooperative about that sort of flow," Wood said. "Every mom and every baby is important. So you want everyone to have the best experience and the safest experience that we can."

While we're in the middle of this September baby boom, data shows the least common birthdays are actually on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.