Bay Area Baby Boom Possibly Triggered By Improving Economy
WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) -- Bay Area hospital delivery rooms are keeping busy with a rise in births after a slowdown during the recession.
When new parents Linette Edwards and Tammy Brown knew when they decided to have a baby, they knew it was going to take some planning.
"It needs to be the right time," Edward said. "And if the economy is good, it definitely helps out."
Take a look around Walnut Creek and you can't help but think, the economy must be great.
There are baby carriages everywhere and the numbers at area hospitals point to a possible baby boom.
John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek was averaging about 2,500 births in the years after the recession. But last year, 2,900 babies were born and just as many are expected this year.
"As the economy booms and becomes successful, people feel a lot more comfortable and maybe a little more relaxed," Edwards said. "And what do you know? Babies happen!"
Just ask Walnut Creek business owner Sarah Appel.
Appel owns a baby and toddler clothing business and says more babies being born is great for her bottom line.
Her equestrian-inspired baby clothing line Mini Britches is already thriving.
"It's our first year and we're sold out," she said.
With other hospitals like UC San Francisco and Kaiser Permanente also seeing a rise in births, it may still be too early to definitively blame the baby boom on the economy. Other factors could include a growing Bay Area population, more people enrolling in medical coverage because of the Affordable Care Act -- and one idea just for fun -- the Giants winning the World Series nine months ago.