Our baby boom

By Geelong Story Updates
A baby boom is delivering a population surge to Geelong.
Barwon Health is scratching its head to explain the boom as it works on keeping up with demand from expectant mums.
But a Deakin University expert believes the surge is coming from couples in poor areas who have given up on buying homes and opted for children rather than young single women chasing the $4000 baby bonus.
Almost 2000 babies arrived at Geelong Hospital in the last financial year, or more than five a day.
Barwon Health said the arrivals had lifted the birth rate at the hospital 17 per cent over the past three years.
The surge in Geelong mirrors a baby boom in Melbourne where Australian Medical Association last week called for expansion of maternity wards to keep up with demand.
Barwon Health women’s and children’s services divisional nursing and midwifery director Therese Cotter was unable to explain the surge but said the hospital could handle the increasing workload.
“We are working effectively to manage this increase in demand,” Ms Cotter said.
“Barwon Health is also well placed to look at strategies to manage any further increase in coming years.
The increase in births has tracked introduction of Federal Government’s baby bonus payment to mothers.
The bonus started in 2004 with $3000 for each baby. The 17 per cent increase in births at Geelong Hospital began around the same time.
The baby bonus payment rose to $4000 last year with the next annual increase reaching $5000.
Federal Treasurer Peter Costello linked the bonus to increasing birth rates in 2004 when he urged parents to “have one for mum, one for dad and one for the country”.
Deakin University sociologist Dr Karen Lane thought the boom was probably coming from couples in poor areas of Geelong.
She based her assumption on a Brotherhood of St Laurence report this week pinpointing the baby surge in low socioeconomic areas and other statistics showing static birth rates among young, single women.
Educated women were not contributing because their birth rates were declining, Dr Lane said.
She suspected that rising housing prices and the baby bonus were combining to stimulate birth rates among couples in low socioeconomic areas.
“What they’re going for is the pleasure of having children and not bothering with a house because the great Australian dream is now out of reach,” Dr Lane said.