Don't Delay Delivery

Under an upcoming law in Germany, either one of a newborn's parents can stay at home to look after the baby for up to 14 months while receiving two-thirds of their net salary, up to a cut-off point of 1,800 euros ($2,365 dollars) per month.

Since this only applies to babies born after Dec. 31, the medical profession is expecting women to try to wait until midnight to give birth.

Experts warn against artificial delays

"We warn against any intervention in the natural birth process," Christian Albring, president of Germany's gynecologists' federation, said Tuesday.

He said medication to stop early contractions should only be given for sound medical reasons and not for financial gain.

But Albring had some conventional wisdom to offer women who feel it is in their interest not to hasten matters -- avoid sex, stress and hot baths.

The head of a maternity hospital in the Berlin district of Neukölln, Klaus Vetter, said nature -- not parents -- decided the time of a child's birth.

"You cannot really tell babies to wait," he said.

Grace for New Year's babies

The midwives' federation warned it was "dangerous and unethical" to manipulate the natural birth process, but conceded that the date of a Caesarean section could generally be pushed back.

The head of the federation, Edith Wolber, said that "in the odd case" of a baby born just minutes before the new law takes effect, the truth might be stretched a bit on its birth certificate.

The law is the brainchild of Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen, a mother of seven, and is a bid to encourage Germans to have children to boost the birthrate, which at 1.36 children per woman is one of the lowest in Europe along with Italy and Spain.