Hospitals busy welcoming 'National Day babies'

The China Post news staff--Doctors and nurses serving at birth wards of hospitals around Taiwan yesterday were busy welcoming the arrival of National Day babies, as the country celebrated the 100th National Day of the Republic of China.

The newborns were particularly welcome as Taiwan suffers the lowest birth rate in the world and is facing a rapidly aging population.
As of noon, the Heping Fuyou branch of Taipei City Hospital had five “National Day babies” delivered, and a total of 12 were expected to be born at the branch on Monday.
The 12 babies would be double the total born last year on Oct. 10, according to Lin Chen-li, the hospital's chief medical officer. “It's been a long time since we last had such a good feeling,” Lin said.
Lin continued that the number of childbirths given at the hospital so far this year has risen 16 percent from a year earlier and has already reached the total delivered in all of 2010.
The number of newborns may exceed 190,000 nationwide this year and is likely to surge further to top 200,000 in 2012, which will be the Year of the Dragon, Lin said. Most Chinese want to have a dragon boy or a dragon girl, considering them smarter and stronger than children born in other years.
Government statistics showed that the number of newborns in Taiwan in 1997 exceeded 320,000, which plunged to fewer than 200,000 in 2008 and further dropped to a record low of 166,628 in 2010.
The sound of newborns crying also increased Monday at Taiwan Adventist Hospital, another Taipei hospital enjoying “booming business” on National Day, with 12 babies expected to be delivered.
As with Taipei Hospital, only one of the first five babies born were delivered by pre-scheduled Caesarean sections.
Wu Ling-ling, an on-duty nursing supervisor at Taiwan Adventist, attributed the higher number of National Day babies delivered at the hospital this year to it being the R.O.C.'s centennial year and the government's various incentive programs to spur births.

source:http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2011/10/11/319467/Hospitals-busy.htm