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Baby Birth Bearing Bear Women Story Reported Give

Id ESLPod_0136_CN
Episode Id ESLPod 136
Episode Title Having a Baby
Title Bearing Children
Text

The verb "to bear" has several meanings. We may say, "Please bear with me," which means please be patient with me. "To bear" can also mean refer to "childbearing," which is the process of giving birth to a baby, so you'll often hear people talk about women bearing children.

A 2012 story in the Wall Street Journal reported something "surprising" (unexpected) about "expectant" (pregnant; with a baby in one's body) mothers. The story reported that mothers may have some small control over when they will "deliver" (have; give birth to) their babies.

Researchers examined births in the United States from 1996 to 2006 during the two weeks around Halloween (October 31st) and St. Valentine's Day (February 14th). You would expect that the number of spontaneous or natural births to be "about" (approximately) the same each day. They "excluded" (didn't include) "caesarians" (where the doctors surgically remove the baby from the woman) and "induced births" (where drugs are given to cause the woman to give birth.

They found that the number of births on St. Valentine's Day "rose" (increased) 3.6% "over" (compared to) the surrounding days, and "fell" (decreased) 5.3% on Halloween. The researchers concluded that, within a limited "time frame" (a limited amount of time), women can "expedite or delay" (speed up or slow down) "childbirth" (giving birth to a baby).

Topics Health + Medicine

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