[Olympics] Nascere l’8 agosto 2008

Today’s
Information
Times,
a Guangzhou based newspaper, reported that some expectant mothers in
Guangzhou are asking their doctors to rearrange the delivery date for
their babies to coincide with the opening of the Beijing Olympic
Games on August 8.

One
couple, Mr and Mrs Liu, told the Information
Times
that when planning to get pregnant last year, they consulted doctors
and calculated the length of their babies gestation in hopes that
their baby would be born during the Olympics. Unfortunately, things
did not turn out as planed; Mrs Liu began to show symptom of
premature labor, and after an examination, doctors suggested she
allow them to deliver the baby early. On July 25, Mrs Liu gave birth
14 days ahead of schedule.

There
are many couples like the Lius who want to have Olympic babies.
Recently, the number of baby birth per day have risen abruptly in
Guangzhou’s major hospitals. According to the hospital, this surge is
due to the substantial number of couples who were hoping to give
birth on August 8.

Hou
Hongying, a obstetrician of the Sun Yat-sen University’s Third
Affiliated Hospital in Guanzhou said there was an expectant mother
pregnant for only 36 weeks who requested a cesarean section on August
8. Hou said that doctors can only deliver babies – and schedule
cesareans – based on what is best for the health of the mother and
child, not the families scheduling wishes.

A
woman surnamed Zhang said that though her baby is due August 10, she
and her family hope that she can deliver 2 days early so they can
have a Olympic baby. Zhang hopes that more physical exercise might
help her give birth early, so she exercises by climbing the stairs in
her apartment building.

While
some mothers are making every effort to give birth on this auspicious
day, others who did not attempt to schedule their babies birth worry
whether there will be enough beds in the hospital. Some mothers who
were due on August 8 have even decided to give birth two days early
to avoid the crowd.

Another
newspaper, the Yanzhao
Evening News
has a report today on a similar phenomena in Shijiazhuang, the
capital city of Hebei Province. (da danwei.org)