Startling Rise In N. Y. Births

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31135, 11 August 1966, Page 17

Startling Rise In N. Y. Births

<N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) NEW YORK, Aug. 9. A startling increase in the birth-rate has been reported by hospitals in New York in the last 36 hours, exactly nine months after the big blackout the “New York Times’’ news service reported. AU four delivery rooms and 14 labour rooms have been constantly occupied at Mt. Sinai Hospital, in the biggest population explosion in the hospital’s history. The hospital, which averages 11 births daily, had 28 births on Monday, compared to a previous record of 18. At Bellevue, there were 29 new babies in the nursery today, compared with 11 a week ago and an average of 20. Columbia-Presbyterian averages 11 births daily and had 15 on Monday, St. Vincent’s averages seven and had 10, Brookdale averages 10 and had 13. and Coney Island averages five and had eight.

However, two other large hospitals reported that the birth-rate was normal—which was also the case in areas in which power was restored in two or three hours. “The lights went out and people were left to interact with each other,” said Pau! Siegel, director of a study of the impact of the black-out on 1300 people, being held by the National Opinion Research Council. The black-out occurred at 5.27 p.m. on November 9. The power failure plunged nearly the entire city into darkness, along with parts of eight states and one Canadian province. It affected 30 million people. Sociologists and obstetricians are reluctant to attribute the birth increase to the black-out, but noted that the disruption in routine and the absence of television may have contributed to the phenomenon. “I know the exact date of conception of two patients.” said Dr. Richard Hausknecht, an associate attending obstetrician at Mt. Sinai. “It was the night of the blackout.”

Dr. Hausknecht specialises in patients with fertility prob- 1

lems, and noted that some couples who had sought vainly to conceive were apparently successful on November 9. He added: “It’s quite possible that there were a number of unplanned pregnancies.”

Dr. Robert W. Hodge, a sociologist and co-director of the study, said: “Our data shows that most people wound up at home. They didn’t have access to a major source of amusement—television. Under the circumstances it is not unreasonable to assume that a lot of sex life went on.” A total of 273 days have elapsed since November 9. Eastman’s Obstetrics, a standard textbook, says that birth occurs 270 days from the last ovulation or 282 days from the last menstrual period. Dr. Christopher Tietze, director of the National Committee on Maternal Health, said: “I am sceptical until I see data from the entire city. There can be daily fluctuations in individual hospitals that can be misleading.” New York Hospital, Brooklyn Jewish Hospital, and Sloan Hospital, reported that the birth-rate was normal. The birth-rate also was re-

ported normal in Nassau and Suffolk counties, where commuters were stranded in the city on November 9, in Newark and Jersey City, which were not affected, and in hospitals in Albany, Rochester, New Haven, and Providence, where the lights went on in mid-evening. At Mt. Sinai, however, the obstetrical floors were the scene of frantic activity as nurses hurried through the wards, and incubators were speedily wheeled in and out of the delivery room. “We’ve been on our toes every minute of the day, night and evening,” said Elizabeth Brandl, nurse supervisor. “I can’t remember it ever being this bad.” Several sociological studies of the black-out are now in progress, including researchers for Columbia, Cornell, and Ohio State Univeristies. When the studies were announced, sociologists said that they regarded the black-out as a great social happening that abruptly and radically altered the living conditions of 30 million people. They said they were certain that what happened provided a rich mine of behaviour and social and psychological discovery.