Will it cause your next baby to be born?

Looks like the Full Moon really does affect the birthing process.

I first heard of this phenomenon when I was pregnant with my son. I was in the process of acquiring some livestock guard dogs from a charming country lady, Beverly Coate. Beverly had all sorts of folksy wisdom, and she kept telling me that I would have my baby when there was a full moon.  We wound up having one of those ’scheduled’  births and I forgot all about it.

Last month I got to thinking about this again.  It is thought that barometric pressure will cause females to go into labor. In November all our cria (baby alpacas) were born in a cluster, all before their due dates by a few days. In December, the due alpacas didn’t seem to want to have their cria. I wondered if the full moon would do it. Sure enough, the morning after the full moon I looked out in the field and there was Claire.

A friend of mine who is a Labor & Delivery nurse says they are definitely busier at our local hospital with more moms having babies when the moon is full. Some hospitals make sure they have extra staff on hand during the full moon and the days surrounding it.

My sister, Elizabeth Eason, MD  is a neonatologist in Houston. She reports that the app. she uses most on her iPhone is the one with the phases of the moon. “I can tell how crazy it’s going to be at work by looking at what the moon is doing,” she says. In her experience several days before the full moon is when the pre-term babies begin to come. Then as the full moon gets closer, the full term babies start to arrive. Eason reports that the new moon also seems to cause increased birth rates.

In his article, The Moon’s Effect on Natural Childbirth, David Rose writes, “The theory is that the gravitational pull affects amniotic fluid in much the same way as it effects water in the sea, rivers, and even the water that’s found otherwise in our bodies.” It is thought that the pressure caused by the full moon breaks the amniotic sac. Birth usually follows.

After looking at Star Date (which lets you plug in dates and lets you see the moon phase for that month), I realize that I had my first child just before the full moon (3 weeks early). Also, the cria all born in November were clustered around the full moon. Leave a comment and tell us – What has been your experience with birthing and the full (or new) moon? More babies? More cria?

Tonight will be the BIGGEST full moon of 2009. Be sure to look. You should notice a real difference between this one and your plain ol’ run of the mill full moon.