THERE have been reports of an increase of births in Victoria since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
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However, it may not be true of Ararat, Wimmera, or Stawell areas.
Ararat Rural City Council's data has seen the highest increase of births in the area out of the three locations but saw a dip in birth rates in the 2019-2020 period.
In the 2018-2019 period, 115 births were recorded, which dropped the following period. 2019-2020 saw just 97 births recorded.
Births jumped up again by 28.6 percent in 2020-2021 with 125 births recorded.
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East Grampians Health Service, who record births by calendar year, saw 100 births in 2019, 100 births in 2020 and as of mid-September 2021, have recorded 75 births.
In the Northern Grampians Shire the area has been a steady increase of births.
In 2018-2019, the shire recorded 106 births, birth rates increased by four in 2019-2020 with 110 births recorded and in 2020-2021 116 births were recorded - an increase of six.
Across the Wimmera region, recorded births have remained stable over the course of the past few years.
Wimmera Health Care Group reported a drop in births since 2019-2020.
In 2018-2019, WHCG recorded 302 births, then in 2019-2020 there was a jump with 308 births, even so there was a drop in 2020-2021 with 267 births recorded.
A drop of 41 births was recorded between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 years.
Horsham Rural City Council revealed similar statistics.
In 2018-2019, 243 births were recorded, following two years of decreased numbers. For 2019-2020 there were 239 and a further decrease in 2020-2021 with 213 recorded births.
Both show a larger decrease after 2019-2020 after steady numbers for the years prior.
For Yarrimabiack Shire, they remained stable when it comes to birthing rates, with a slight increase.
In 2018-2019, Yarrimabiack Shire recorded 57 births, in 2019-2020, 64 births were recorded and for 2020-21 they saw another slight increase with 66 births recorded.
Overall, there seems to be stability in births while some follow the trend of an increase in births and other areas buck the trend.
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