Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T23:32:29.198Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The seasonality of births in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

S. S. Halli
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

Summary

Earlier studies on the seasonality of births indicate that a major peak occurs in August and September and a minor peak in January and February. This study uses the 1984 Canadian Fertility Survey data on reproductive history to examine birth and pregnancy seasonalities, and shows that the ‘worst’ months for births are January and February and the ‘best’ months are March, April and May. There is no systematic pattern in the seasonality of pregnancies, possibly because effective birth control allows couples to plan the timing of births.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Becker, S. (1981) Seasonality of fertility in Matlab, Bangladesh. J. biosoc. Sci. 13, 97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Becker, S., Choudhury, A. & Leridon, H. (1986) Seasonal patterns of reproduction in Matlab, Bangladesh.Popul. Stud. 40, 457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernard, R. P., Bhatt, R. V., Potts, D. M. & Rao, A. P. (1978) Seasonality of birth in India.J.biosoc. Sci. 10, 409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Condon, R. G. (1982) Inuit natality rhythms in the central Canadian Arctic. J. biosoc. Sci. 14,167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Condon, R. G. & Scaglion, R. (1982) The ecology of human birth Seasonality. Hum. Ecol. 10,495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pasamanick, B., Dinitz, S. G. & Knobloch, H. (1960) Socio-economic and seasonal variations in birth rates. Milbank meml Fund Q. Bull. 38, 248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryder, N. B. (1982) Progressive Fertility Analysis. WFS Technical Bulletin No. 8. International Statistical Institute, Voorburg, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Warren, C. W. & Tyler, C. W. (1979) Social status and season of birth: a study of metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. Social Biol. 26, 275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed