Interesting Facts

Twins, Amy and Katie Elliott, were born an extraordinary 87 days apart. (Amy was born four months prematurely on June 1, 2012 weighing just 1lb 3oz, but after she was born, her mother Maria's contractions suddenly stopped and doctors decided it was safer for her sister Katie to stay in the womb.  Katie was born on August 27 weighing 5lb 10oz. The Irish twins are now set to become Guinness World Record holders for the longest time between twins being born.)

According to forecasters, the newly arrived royal baby is expected to boost the UK economy by around 240m. (The "boost" will be from people buying baby related memorobilia, and other sundry items. Even the royal family (who are more like a corporation every day, are getting in on the act. Allegedly they are selling baby sleepsuits modelled on a guardsman's at palace shops run by the Royal Collection Trust, Prince Charles, the grandfather-to-be, is selling handmade baby shoes through a shop on his country estate Highgrove, while the mother-to-be's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, have added a range of baby goods to their party goods business. Now there's a thought!  Maybe if we get her to push a few more out, we will be able to pay off the national debt. )

On the birth of the newest royal baby it emerged that some people lost a lot of money because he was late. (The Duchess was around 41 weeks pregnant when she actually gave birth - a week overdue.  The British press kindly labelled her waity Katy (just what an expectant mum wants to hear). Many people in the UK who had had a punt on the baby arriving on time lost their bets, estimated at over £100,000, and British bookmakers reported a huge surge in royalty-related bets when the palace announced she had gone into labour.  They allegedly took over £1.2 million from people around the world, who were wagering on everything from the baby's sex, weight, name and even his (yes it was a boy) future career, which is a bit of a daft bet when you think about it.) Best bit of news coverage?

In England and Wales, every week, two babies are born in prison. (Quite often the child is taken from them at birth to be placed into care, but there are mother and baby units in 8 of Britain's 13 women's jails, so it is now possible for about 80 of those children to be with their mothers – but still behind bars. Not the best start in life.)

According to statistics from the Department of Trade and Industry, over 75% of UK men fail to take up paternity leave after the birth of a child. (194,000 men took paternity leave in 2010 compared with 602,000 women, who naturally took maternity leave. Seemingly it's the fear factor that prevents many men from taking the time off, they are more scared of their boss than their wife.)

Rajo Devi Lohan is the world's oldest IVF (invitro fertilization) mum. (Yes, she gave birth in India to her daughter Naveen in November 2008,, at the age of 70. Tragically her health has deteriorated, but her doctor said, "Even though Rajo's health is deteriorating, at least she will die in peace. She does not have to face the stigma of being barren." Seemingly the stigma of being barren is greater than that of leaving a child motherless.)

For Rachel:- According to a recent study by the UK Office for National Statistics the day you were born could be an influence on your eventual career. (GPs (family doctors) and debt collectors had the greatest percentage of January births, while sheet-metal workers had the lowest percentage. '' February appear to give a greater chance of becoming artists. March was a good month for pilots. April and May had a fairly even spread of career paths.  Babies born in June, July and August had a much lower chance of having high-end, top-paying careers, such as doctor, dentist, or professional athlete. September babies had a greater chance of becoming sports players or physicists, and a less likely chance of becoming bricklayers or hairdressers.  Giving birth in December could make your child become a dentist. They also noticed that certain jobs were spread quite evenly throughout the year; most notably CEOs of large companies and real estate agents. Now b...

According to the UN around 12 million people do not have citizenship of any country. (So, how do you end up stateless? It can happen when nations such as the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia break up, or new countries come into being after colonial powers leave, such as in parts of Africa and Asia, and without a nationality people can find it difficult to acquire any kind of legal status, including issues like property rights, getting married legally, registering the birth of a child or simple things like opening a bank account. It makes me value my passport a bit more.)

Cambourne is a village in Cambridgeshire, but what makes it interesting? Well, seemingly it has a higher birth rate than India and China. (According to the Cambridgeshire County Council Research Group, the birth rate is nearly twice the national average. In 2007 the birth rate was 24.1 births per 1,000 people. The average birth rate in the UK is 12.1 births per 1,000 people. Maybe it's something in the water, but coincidentally, the area is also home to one of the UK's best-known fertility clinics.)

The chances of a woman having two sets of triplets naturally are one in 64 million. (And yet a woman in Ohio has given birth to her second set of triplets. I guess she's one in sixty-four million.)

powered by ODEO Babies in Germany are getting bigger. (20 years ago the average birth weight of a baby was 3,500 grams. Today it is nearly 4,000 grams. It's thought that genes play a factor, but also the better nutrition of the birth mother. A similar thing is happening in the UK and unfortunately the effect has been more surgery for mothers. Caesareans increased last year to a rate of nearly one in four of all births in Britain, up from one in 33 in the 1950s.)

If left alone, 70% of birthmarks gradually fade away. (It's always best to let nature take its course.)