Nearly 13,500 babies were born across Vietnam during the first six days of the Year of the Dragon.
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A baby at Tu Du Hospital during the first days of the Year of the Dragon. |
Nearly 13,500 babies were born across Vietnam during the first six days of the Year of the Dragon.
In Ho Chi Minh City alone, there were a thousand new babies just in the first three days of the year, with parents believing that their babies will be blessed under the prosperous sign of the dragon.
There were no Tet festivities at Tu Du, a leading maternity hospital in the city, as it has been crowded since the New Year’s Eve with droves of expecting fathers waiting outside the delivery rooms.
Figures from the city hospitals showed that the number of newborns has increased 43 percent over the same period last year, the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese zodiac. The rabbit is replaced by the cat in Vietnamese astrology.
During the first hour after midnight struck on New Year’s Eve, five babies were born at Tu Du hospital.
The lunar year is named with a combination of a heavenly stem and a zodiac animal. There are ten such stems and 12 animals.
This year is called Nhâm Thìn, a combination of the zodiac animal of dragon (Thìn) and the stem “Nhâm,” which is believed to be a very good one for boys.
“Nhâm combined with Thìn is really a year of great luck and gains,” said Ngo Thuy Ai, a new grandmother at Tu Du Hospital. “My grandson will fly high like dragon.”
The dragon frenzy started since late last year, when 343 were born on the last day of the Year of the Cat. Many parents were a little bit disappointed as their babies came out too early.
Pham Viet Thanh, director of HCMC Health Department and of the city’s leading maternity hospital Tu Du, said both the cat and dragon years are “good” according to the Eastern belief, but the latter is even “better.”
Tu Du hospital saw nearly 40,000 new babies in the Year of the Tiger in 2010, and nearly 50,000 last year. But the hospital is expected to have 30 percent more babies born this year.
At Hung Vuong, a popular private obstetrics hospital in the city, doctors said they are already overwhelmed with prenatal checkups for expecting mothers.
Do Thu Nga, who will give birth in March this year, said “I have walked around the city hospitals and they’re already crowded. I don’t know if I will have a place after my delivery.”
The joy and excitement also comes with worries about expanding gender imbalances and a burden for sufficient education facilities.
Hua Ngoc Thuan, vice chairman of HCMC government, said every 40 new babies require the city to build a new classroom.
Thuan said the city is still making plans for 250 classrooms after more than 10,000 new babies were born last year.
The pressure will be heavier three years later, according to him, when the babies born this year start to go to school.
A baby boom has also been forecast in many other Asian countries, including China.
Market research firm Euromonitor forecasts that China’s diaper market will reach RMB28.4 billion (US$4.5 billion) this year, up 17 percent from last year, according to a report by HSBC.
An AP report earlier this month said that a poll in Hong Kong showed 70 percent of couples there wanted children born under the dragon sign.
(Source: TNNews)
