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| Lola Witt, Born 10 Sept 2007 |
Official UK statistics show a marked increase in births registered daily in the month of September and while many women are thrilled to have a baby at any time of the year, more and more wannabe parents are timing conception to make sure their babies are born in September so they get a head start at school by being the oldest in the year.
Some, like Lisa Read, are even going so far as to increase their chances of getting pregnant when they want to, by using a fertility monitor.
There are even examples of heavily subscribed prep schools allocating places on a ‘first come, first served’ basis for children whose names are registered with them at birth, giving those born in September the best chance of securing a place and ensuring a rush in the maternity wards as the summer ends.
Children born in August sometimes suffer for being up to a year younger than their classmates. In many primary schools children born in August do not start school until eight months after their peers (usually after the Easter holidays). Having only spent a brief Summer term in a reception class, they can find themselves playing catch-up with the rest in their class for their foreseeable future at school.
Lisa Read, mother of Rocco aged four “I was one of the younger ones at school and admit I didn’t really give it much thought when I was trying to conceive first time round. However, when I realised that Rocco would be starting school almost immediately after his fourth birthday, I started to stop and think about the challenges of being one of the youngest in the school year. Thankfully, Rocco is bright, but at four years old he’s emotionally and socially immature when compared to the five year olds in his class. It’s especially noticeable at playtime and he can get quite anxious about something that should be fun.”
Second time around, Lisa wanted to make sure that they had a September baby as her husband was born in September and on reflection he strongly believed that he had benefited from being one of the oldest in his school year. They used a Fertility Monitor to boost their chances of conceiving and Jagger was born right on time on 11th September 2006.
Monitoring fertlity can be very useful for those wanting to get their child to the front of the queue. Proven to increase the chances of conception by 89%, various fertlity monitors can accurately identify the ‘High’ and ‘Peak’ fertility days of a woman’s cycle. By identifying more fertile days a couple can optimise a woman’s chance of conceiving.
Simon Carder, Former Headmaster and Chairman of the Prep Schools Association says “I believe there is a strong advantage for children born in the Autumn months. It all comes down to maturity and being one of the oldest in the school year will often give the children the intellectual and social advantage to cope with the demands of school and do well in exams. What I will say to parents aiming for a September birth is that there is always a danger that the baby could come early!”
October 2007
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