ABSTRACT
Every day, around 400,000 children are born (PRB 2014)—over 16,000 per hour! Each of these births is both usually a very intimate experience and a statistical demographic fact with implications for local communities, entire countries, even the world. Each marks the start of an individual life course, the beginning of a life across space. It might represent a long-awaited blessing, celebrated by the mother and her family, or a desperate strain on family resources for a woman lacking support of a partner, close friends and/or family. Yet, no matter how received, a birth is clearly a major occurrence for all involved, and one typically subsequently celebrated each year as a birthday!
