A birth surge from all that 'cocooning' in blizzards

PITTSBURGH - William and Jennifer Duffy lost electricity and heat for two days during the record snowfall of February, and it was a week before their street was plowed. Around Halloween, the Ross Township couple are expecting a little reminder of that isolated week - their second child.

"We didn't have power. . . . What are you going to do?" said 27-year-old Jennifer Duffy. Their newborn will have plenty of company in the maternity wards in Pennsylvania, which was hit not only by the early February blizzard but by frequent snowfalls for several weeks after that. Many of the region's hospitals and obstetricians say they expect a jump in the number of births in late October and the first half of November.

"We have many more births than normal planned for this October," said Ann McCarthy, clinical director of the birth center at the Midwife Center for Birth and Women's Health in Pittsburgh. She said she suspects that the increase about nine months after the snow deluge is not a coincidence.

Westmoreland Regional Hospital also projects an increase based on experience during events such as snowstorms, power outages, and Y2K. "You can look at what anybody would consider those pivotal times of great upheaval, and say there is some correlation to nine months later, the number of babies increase," hospital spokeswoman Robin Jennings said. The reason, Jennings said, is that "people tend to cocoon in those times." - AP