According to Independer, 141,849 babies were born in the first ten months of last year. This year there are 149,684 in the same period. That is about 7,000 more babies, an increase of 5.5 percent.
Precisely in Harlingen
There was an increase in every province. Zeeland had the smallest increase with 2.8 percent. Limburg is in the top three with 7.3 percent more babies, North Brabant with 7.9 percent and the province of Friesland at the top with 8.9 percent more babies.
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In this province, the town of Harlingen stands out above all else. Last year 81 babies were born in the first ten months, now there are already 123. That is 42 more than last year, which is an increase of 51 percent.
Busy maternity care
Alicia Conway is one of the many new mothers from Harlingen. On December 7, she gave birth to her daughter Emily. “Emily is a kind of Christmas miracle. She is growing well and we are very happy,” she tells EditieNL.
As a brand new mother, Alicia notices that there is a baby boom going on in Harlingen. “The maternity care is also very busy, sometimes they do two families instead of one a day. My niece is also heavily pregnant, for example.”
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Sylvia von Kospoth, a midwife in Harlingen, also notices a lot of the crowds. “The consultation hours were overcrowded and we had to work more shifts. We worked hard,” she tells EditieNL. It is also possible that Christmas babies will be born in Harlingen. “Eight women are due around Christmas.”
Moving to the North
But why is it that births are going so fast in Harlingen? “More and more people are moving to the north. They often choose Harlingen because it is centrally located and close to the Afsluitdijk. This allows them to continue working in the west while living in the north,” says von Kospoth.
Because these are mainly relatively young people, more children are coming. “And I also think that the corona pandemic certainly plays a role in this. Maybe people have more time and they are now more interested in taking care of a baby, while they were very busy before.”
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