The number of births in the Helsinki metropolitan area has grown steadily in the past three years, and the growth appears to be continuing.
According to the Helsinki City Information Centre, 20 more babies were born in the early part of this year than at the same time in 2003.
The Kätilöopisto hospital, one of Helsinki’s main maternity hospitals, reports about 800 more mothers giving birth last year than in 2002.
At the Women’s Hospital of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Health Care District (HUS), head physician Vilho Hiilesmaa notes that trends in birth rates take years, and that the figures are increasing gradually.
He also sees what he calls a "Nokia phenomenon" in families’ decisions to have children.
"Couples can afford to get children. An uncertain work situation can also encourage women to have babies."
He mainly attributes the trend to a change in ways of thinking: there is more appreciation for families.
"The social benefits for those staying at home have not improved, so the reason must be somewhere else."
Another factor affecting the Helsinki region is linked with the migration of young families to the area from other parts of Finland. The trend has caused maternity hospitals in many smaller communities to shut down. The total number of maternity hospitals in Finland has declined from 50 to slightly over 30 in the past two decades.
Also on the increase is the average age of mothers giving birth. Erja Halmesmäki of Helsinki’s Women’s Clinic says that just over a third of mothers having babies are over the age of 35. The number of women aged 20 to 24 having babies has declined steadily from the 1970s.
"People are not having babies before their life situations have stabilised. People stay single longer, and are spending more time searching for a partner."
The older the new mother, the greater the danger of certain birth defects.
