Childbirth

• Daily human birth count peaks between 3 and 4 a.m.
• Nine out of 10 fathers stay with the mothers during childbirth.
• An expectant mother will get about 135 labor pains with her first baby.
• Less than one percent of American babies are born at home...and for half of those that are, the mothers had intended to go to hospitals but things happened too quickly.
• Twins generally arrive about 24 days earlier than single babies.
• Pakistan's former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, is the only head of state in the 20th century to give birth while in office.
• Childbirth was the number one cause of death among women in colonial times. (Burns from cooking over open fireplaces was number two.)
• More people are born during July and August than at any other time of the year.
• Among newborn babies, the ratio of sons to daughters remains fairly stable, except immediately after every big war. Then, the returning soldiers father a much higher proportion of sons. Explanations vary.