Village ponders baby boom cause

There are 30 babies expected in the village this year

A small village in North Devon has been experiencing a baby boom, with double the usual number of children expected to be born.

On average 10 to 15 babies are born annually in Winkleigh, but this year there are 30 expectant mothers.

The local midwife said she was rushed off her feet and has had to organise extra ante-natal classes.

The toddler group has expanded and there are worries the school could be bursting at the seams in a few years.

At the village playgroup, theories about what may have caused the surge in births were varied.

It's obviously catching, this baby thing New Winkleigh mother

One woman said: "People reckon it's something in the water.

"There are a lot of new houses down on our estate - new house, new baby, I think."

Another young mother said: "It's obviously catching, this baby thing, because I fell pregnant quite soon after moving here."

But midwife Sue Ware said the boom meant she has no time for "pregnant pauses".

"It's putting us under a lot of pressure. We've had to put on extra classes because of this big baby boom, we've even had to do overtime to accommodate it," she said.