The General Hospital of Lanzarote has assisted 1,392 births in the first eleven months of the year, resulting in the birth of 1,410 babies. In total, there has been an increase of 2 percent in births compared to those registered in the same period of 2004.
Forecasts indicate that the total number of births on the island could reach 1,538 children.
In general terms, the public hospitals of the Canary Islands have assisted 16,131 births, resulting in the birth of 16,428 children, in the period between January 1 and November 30, 2005, which represents a slight increase of 2 percent compared to those born in the same period of 2004. According to forecasts made by the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, public hospitals will have attended to nearly 17,600 births by the end of 2005, which represents an average of 48 births per day in the Canary Islands.
In the province of Las Palmas, public hospitals have attended 9,382 births, representing a decrease of 2.9 percent compared to those produced in the same period of 2004. Until the month of November, 9,554 children have been born in the eastern province.
In the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a total of 6,749 births have been attended, 5 percent more than those that took place between January and November of last year. The number of births in the western province is 6,874.
In Gran Canaria, 7,139 births have been recorded, and in Tenerife, 6,135 newborns have been born in the two reference hospitals on the island, of which 2,270 children came into the world at the University Hospital of the Canary Islands, and 3,865 at the Hospital Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria.
During the first eleven months of 2005, there were 309 twin births in the Archipelago, and 3 of triplets, who were born at the University Hospital of the Canary Islands, in Tenerife.
It should be noted that the islands in which the birth rate has been maintained, compared to 2004, are Tenerife, La Palma, and Lanzarote. In contrast, the decrease has affected Gran Canaria with 4.7 percent fewer births and has been more significant in the non-capital islands of both provinces. For example, in El Hierro where the decrease in births has been 9 percent and in La Gomera 8.5 percent, compared to those born in the year 2004.
The average age of mothers in the Canary Islands ranges between 21 and 34 years old.