There’s a new trend among soccer fans in Britain: Women are being encouraged to get pregnant now in hopes of taking maternity leave in time for next summer’s Euro 2016, a mini-sized version for the World Cup that pits European countries against each other in a soccer tournament, The Bristol Post reported.
Soccer fans have supported this trend on social media, encouraging families to get pregnant this fall so that they’ll receive time off in nine months, around the time the Euro tournament kicks off, The Bristol Post reported.
“The forward-thinking fans have calculated that there is nine months until the competition, and, by conceiving now, parents across the UK will be free to watch the footie thanks to maternity and paternity leave,” The Bristol Post reported.
Though this movement is somewhat tongue-in-cheek — there’s no official data about whether or not partners are purposefully getting pregnant in time for the Euro — it does say something about pregnancy trends and how people tend to get pregnant because of social pressures from friends, coworkers and family.
Data show that women are more likely to get pregnant when their friends do, which I wrote about in November of last year. Researchers from Bocconi University and the University of Groningen found that the likeliness of a woman getting pregnant increases within two years of when her friend got pregnant.
“Friends are an important learning source,” Nicoletta Balbo, a postdoctoral fellow at Bocconi University, said in a press release. “Becoming a parent is a radical change. By observing their friends, people learn how to fulfill this new role."
Fertility may also spread among co-workers, as Emily Hales of Deseret News National reported last year. In fact, a 2010 study found that co-workers, especially when they were of similar pay scale and age, have a strong influence in inspiring their co-workers to grow their families.
A larger study from the University of Texas looked at pregnancy trends and found the holiday season is peak time for conception. That’s why families are more likely to get pregnant in December. In fact, 9 percent of American conceptions occur in the last month of the year, according to The Daily Beast.
The study’s researchers said December is such a popular month because the weather keeps people indoors and the holiday festivities inspire people to grow their families, The Daily Beast reported.
Of course, there’s no benefit to having a baby in one season over another. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association found that all months leave newborns vulnerable to contracting certain long-term health issues. Babies born in the summer months — who were conceived in winter — were more likely to develop heart disease issues, the study said.
So though events, seasons and friendships may inspire you to get pregnant, the final decision is up to you.
To help decide if you’re ready or not, WebMD has some has some essential facts and questions you may want to consider before trying to conceive.
For more on having babies:
13 baby names that are making a comeback
Why you should embrace baby talk
How to make your baby fall asleep in less than 60 seconds
Herb Scribner is a writer for Deseret News National. Send him an email at hscribner@deseretdigital.com or follow him on Twitter @herbscribner.