Reading and Wokingham have seen a baby boom over lockdown over the past year, with the two areas being hotspots for covid newborns.
In March, across the country, there were 58,409 children born with the peak day for births being March 23 – nine months after the first lockdown was eased.
There were also peaks for births in December and January, with both months seeing a higher than normal number of special deliveries.
Between December 2020 and June this year, there were nearly a quarter of a million (222,409) ‘Covid babies’ conceived during the various lockdowns and born in the UK.
Of the babies born between December last year and June this year, Reading’s rate nearly doubled: it was up 196% on the same period a year before.
And Wokingham came in 10th across the country, seeing a 144% increase.
The area that saw the highest increase was the Vale of Glamorgan, where the number of babies registered was up 345%. The Vale borders Bridgend, Cardiff, and Rhondda Cynon Ta and, on average, there are fewer than 60 new-borns registered here each year.
The study by life insurance broker Reassured analysed ONS births data and combined it with local register office figures sourced via freedom of information requests, to see how lockdown baby numbers compared with those pre-pandemic, as well as where in the UK saw the biggest ‘boom’ in births.
A spokesperson for Reassured said: “With all Covid-19 restrictions now lifted, we’re finally able to look back and explore any more positive outcomes of such a challenging time.
“Our analysis shows many took the big step of having a child in lockdown, with nearly a quarter of a million new-born babies registered by parents from December 2020 – nine months after the restrictive Covid-19 measures were put in place.
“We always recommend that new parents consider investing in insurance to ensure their children have financial protection if the worst should happen. After so many difficult months, a little bit of extra reassurance for the future can go a long way.”
