Predicting with certainty when the day and time a baby will be born is unlikely. While we may wish to be born at a certain date or time of day, it is the baby who chooses when to be born. But is there a time for which they have preference?
A recent study found that most babies are born at night, and that the peak time of birth is at 4:00 a.m.. We tell you the results of the study and the possible reasons why this occurs.
Babies prefer to be born at night
Some time ago we shared the results of a study that was carried out analyzing the records of more than 4,500 births in the Maternity House in Madrid between 1887 and 1892. Although they are very old, these data have a particular importance , since they are from a time when surgical interventions, such as caesarean sections, were minimal.
From this study it was found that babies preferred to be born at night and it is believed that this is due to both evolutionary and biological reasons, similar to those of the study we will now share.
The peak time of birth, 4:00 AM
This new study published in the journal Plos One, reviewed the records of more than five million births in England, from 2005 to 2014.
Different regression models and descriptive statistics were established to establish how the patterns of birth time vary according to the type of birth and gestational age, among other factors.
They found that the time of birth and the day of the week in which this occurred varied considerably. In the case of births that were triggered spontaneously, these occurred mostly between midnight and six in the morning, having a peak at 4:00 a.m., in addition to being more likely to occur during the week and not so much on weekends or holidays.
On the other hand, most caesarean sections occurred on the morning of business days, while the deliveries that were induced, occurred regularly around midnight between Thursday and Saturday, as well as in the days before a holiday.
The result of caesarean sections does not surprise us, because we had previously talked about how more and more deliveries were induced and more caesarean sections were scheduled to prevent them from falling on the weekend.
But what about the natural birth schedules or what is triggered spontaneously? As we commented in the study that talked about babies having a preference to be born at night, this may be due to evolutionary and biological reasons.
On the side of evolution can be a matter of safety and survival, because our ancestors used to meet at nightfall after returning from a day out hunting, so the pregnant woman was now surrounded by others who could protect her and the baby from possible predators.
Another factor that would influence the delivery during the night is due the influence of light -or the absence of it- and that like the body, childbirth is governed by the circadian rhythm. In addition, melatonin, a hormone that is produced in the absence of light, helps to launch other hormones that are responsible for triggering labor.
All these reasons could explain why most babies choose to be born at night and they help us perhaps, to be better prepared in case it is triggered when the sun goes down.
