With most of the women who rushed to have a son in this Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac, entering their delivery period in the last quarters of this year, obstetrics hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have become overloaded as their facilities are falling short of the supply created by this big baby boom. 2012, or the Year of the Dragon, is considered the most auspicious for births as the dragon is a symbol of power and royalty in Asian countries, and people, especially men, born in this year are believed to carry its attributes such as strength, luck, wisdom, and nobility. Local women thus joined in a race to produce a ‘dragon son’, and while it is not yet known if there will be a prime generation of people born this year, a headache has already bothered hospitals across the city as they are totally overloaded. In September alone, Tu Du and Hung Vuong, two of the largest obstetrics hospitals in the city, have each received an average of 400 “dragon sons” on a daily basis. Some hospital attendants have reportedly burst into tears due to the huge amount of pressure, while doctors have become exhausted from working overnight.Baby boom

The number of births in the year to date has increased month by month, according to Pham Thanh Hai, deputy head of the planning bureau of Tu Du Hospital. In the first two months of the year, there were only 136 cases on a daily basis, but the figures rose to 155 over the next four months, Hai said. But the births boomed in the third quarter, with the hospital receiving 166 cases a day in July, 180 in August, and a record 200 cases in September. “We have 26 birth beds and 70 waiting beds, but there are always some 100 pregnant women waiting for their turn,” he added. Dr Hai predicted that the figures will continue rising in the last quarter, which is considered the ‘birth giving season.’ Meanwhile in Hung Vuong hospital, the birth giving figures in August alone rose by 27 percent compared to a month earlier to 4,800 cases, according to hospital director Nguyen Van Truong. “We have received 31,000 cases so far this year,” he added. Pregnant women thus have to share their beds with each other due to the lack of facilities, according to the hospitals. “Even the trolleys for the newborn have fallen short of supply,” said Doctor Trinh Tuyet Anh from Hung Vuong hospital.