Last week we conducted an interview with a project stakeholder who is Asian born and bred. 

In the interview he told us about a trend in China which results in a baby boom in 'lucky' years (i.e. years which are represented by the luckiest of the Zodiac signs). 

He told us that the luckiest Chinese Zodiac sign is the 'Dragon'. 

As ‘Dragon’ years are the luckiest, many Chinese women try and schedule their pregnancy so that their babies are born in a lucky year. 

As a result mums whose children are scheduled to arrive either before the lucky year starts, or after it ends sometimes look for ways to make sure their child born into that year.

According to our interviewee: 

• Pregnant mums whose baby might arrive before the new 'lucky' year is in will try and find ways to delay the birth until the date for the new Zodiac year has passed

• Pregnant mums whose baby might arrive after the lucky year has passed are now opting for C-sections - to deliver their baby prematurely before the end of the lucky year. 

You can read a bit more about the number of births and the impact they have (such as increased competition to get into a good school) here, or about the rise in C-sections in lucky years on page 74 of this book: Childbirth Across Cultures: Ideas and Practices of Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Postpartum. 

As 2012 is the year of the Dragon we will look out for a surge of 'dragon babies' in our local China Town, as well as on our travels across the world.