London - Whether by accident or design, more babies are born on Christmas Eve in Britain than on any other day of the year, statistics showed.
The data, released by the Information Centre of the National Health Service (NHS), relate to England only and cover the period between October 2008 and September, 2009.
They showed that there were 2 266 deliveries on December 24, 2008, whereas two days later, on Boxing Day, the figure plummeted to 1 349.
The second most popular day of the year for births was September 25, with 2,031 deliveries, followed by October 16, which recorded the arrival of 2 006 babies in England.
"Our figures suggest an interesting pattern of activity in NHS maternity wards across England during the Christmas period. It appears more mums have an NHS birth on Christmas Eve compared to any other day in the year," the centre's chief executive Tim Straughan said. - Sapa-dpa