Birth rate growth in Helsinki, Uusimaa continues | News
In 2020, 15,753 babies were born in HUS hospitals, and last year the figure rose to 17,269, an increase of 9.6 percent.
After a steady decline in birth rates for almost a decade, 1,516 more babies were born in the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) in 2021 than in the previous year.
The birth rate in the area began to tick up as the Covid pandemic began to progress in the spring of 2020 and the baby trend seems to continue, at least for now.
In 2020, 15,753 babies were born in HUS hospitals, and last year the figure rose to 17,269, an increase of 9.6 percent. At the national level, a similar trend was observed as birth rates increased across the country seven percent According to preliminary data from Statistics Finland, last year.
Last year, almost 10,000 births were registered at the Helsinki Women’s Hospital, more than 4,500 at the Espoo Hospital, more than 2,100 at the Hyvinkää Hospital and about 1,400 at the Lohja Hospital. These births included a total of 232 twins and three threes.
The highest birth rate increased last year in the cities of Hyvinkää (15.4%) and Lohja (21.9%).
Chief Physician, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, HUS, Seppo Heinonen, said the future pattern of childbirth is difficult to predict, but said the recent big boom is unlikely to last long.
“Based on the calculated forecasts, the increased birth rate will stop and return to the pre-pandemic level by the spring,” Heinonen said in a statement.