End the baby boom: sex therapist explains why the number of births is collapsing

Created: 01/13/2023, 06:20

By: Sophia Oberhuber

Lucky times three in the Munich clinic: in 2022 triplets and 120 twins were born there.

The numbers are in the same range as in previous years.

© Munich Clinic

The number of births in Munich is falling - especially compared to the Corona year 2021. According to a sex therapist, the reasons for this lie primarily in the consequences of the pandemic.

Munich – Just a year ago there was talk of a birth record.

Despite the pandemic, despite worries: in 2021 there were more Munich Kindl than ever before.

The baby boom seems to be over now.

Last year, around nine percent fewer babies were born in Munich hospitals than in 2021. The number has also fallen compared to previous years.

The reasons are complex.

Munich: 22,284 babies were born in hospitals in 2022

According to the registry office, 22,284 Wuzerl saw the light of day in one of the Munich hospitals last year.

6268 babies in a Munich clinic.

“In obstetrics, we are already playing a key role for Munich and the surrounding area.

We will continue to expand our capacities,” says Managing Director Axel Fischer.

Axel Fischer, Managing Director of Munich Clinic © Munich Clinic

But: With regard to Munich, the number of newborns has decreased again and is now at the level of 2014. Especially compared to 2021, in which 24,089 Munich children were born, there is now a baby lull.

This is in line with the nationwide trend.

According to a forecast, the population in Bavaria will continue to grow (see Bavaria section).

Munich: Declining number of births is no surprise for a sex therapist

For the Munich sex therapist Heike Melzer, the declining birth rate is no surprise.

The reason for the development is the consequences of the corona pandemic.

“Many people who actually didn’t want children for a few years brought the desire to have children forward during the pandemic.

That is why there is now a dent in the statistics.”

During the Corona crisis, people would have turned more inwards.

Couples would have been forced to spend a lot of time together trying to make the most of it.

"Some baked, others got a dog and others just had children," says Melzer.

Sex therapist Heike Melzer © private

The Munich therapist also sees the Corona baby boom as a strategy to escape the danger zone.

Instead of being in the open-plan office with a higher risk of infection than at home, the new mums were then on maternity leave - and therefore safe.

This also led to a kind of imitation effect among work colleagues.

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Therapist: Oktoberfest has more impact on the birth rate in Munich than inflation

Now the corona restrictions are largely history and life is increasingly taking place in public spaces again.

“The focus has shifted back towards freedom.

Children might not be the first thing you associate with it,” says Melzer.

The expert cannot predict how the number of births will develop in the future.

However, Melzer does not see inflation as a major factor in Munich.

"I think the Oktoberfest or carnival celebrations have more of an impact."