Strange

Sex and Soccer: A Wave of World Cup Babies

by Kaitlin | February 21, 2007 at 09:49 am

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Screw fertility drugs (pun completely intended)--all it takes to get pregnant is "positive vibes" and some national pride.

I also love the creative manner in which the writer addresses those people who found themselves in "productive new liaisons" as a result of the "good vibes." Oh, political correctness, how I adore thee.

BERLIN (Reuters Life!) - German hospitals are braced for a surge in births nine months after the host country of soccer's World Cup 2006 enjoyed an uncharacteristic wave of feel-good patriotism and parties, doctors say.

In a country worried about low birth rates, booming demand for pre-natal classes alerted Rolf Kliche, head of the Dr Koch clinic in the northern city of Kassel, to the phenomenon.

"We are looking at a 10 to 15 percent jump in births in early March which goes back to the World Cup," he told Reuters.

The party mood which gripped much of the nation between June 9 and July 9 last year helped couples who had struggled for years to conceive as well as leading to productive new liaisons.

"Biological factors are related to people being relaxed and in a good mood which explains the phenomenon," Kliche said.

His clinic delivered its first "World Cup Baby" on Feb. 11. Pia Schmidt said her daughter Farina, born five weeks early, was conceived after Germany's 1:0 victory against Poland.

"I remember it perfectly. There was a great atmosphere, we had friends over and later the celebrations continued in the bedroom," Schmidt, 27, told Reuters from her hospital bed.

"We had wanted a child for some time and the midwife said the positive vibes during the World Cup released my hormones."