Does amount of pregnancies correlate to the economy?

Many of those babies were conceived in 2006, when the economy was relatively good. A nation's birth rate tends to rise in times of prosperity, according to experts.

And for that reason, this baby boomlet could end abruptly in 2008. Some think birth rates are already declining.

"I expect they'll go back down. The lowest birth rates recorded in the United States occurred during the Great Depression " and that was before modern contraception," said Dr. Carol Hogue, an Emory University professor of maternal and child health.

Many obstetricians expect to see a drop in pregnancies, especially among middle-class families experiencing financial strain. Khalil Tabsh, chief of obstetrics at the University of California- Los Angeles who expects to see a drop in pregnancies, said, "If you can't pay your mortgage, the last thing on your mind is to have another child."

Some economists believe the dwindling economy could lead to more births. Gary Becker, a University of Chicago economist and sociologist, said some women might use a job loss as an opportunity to have children, while some women in the workforce might choose to stop working to raise their children. Carl Haub of the Population Reference Bureau said that the economy's effect on the birth rate will be clearer in about nine months (Guynn, Los Angeles Times, 12/10).