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Global notes: how many babies were ever born in the world? What is the hope for future?

Journal of Perinatology volume 28, pages 89–90 (2008)Cite this article

Population studies evoke interesting questions. The news of the arrival of the 300 millionth baby in the US in the month of October a year ago1 raised intriguing questions for many. Being neonatologists, we are accustomed to welcome the newborns no matter how small; so we join the celebrations. Others, demographers in particular, have been thinking of some puzzling questions such as the meaning of the population trends and the effects on national economies. Do we know how many babies have been born in the world since the dawn of human existence? That one is, of course, an instinctive thought of a neonatologist and leads to additional queries: when did the human species start its existence? Finally, what is the relevance of population studies to the progress of a nation or the human species?

First, how many babies were ever born in the world? The answer can only be speculative.2 Assuming that the human species originated around 50 000 years ago, as some anthropologists believe, and started with a population of two, they ventured to calculate the growth of the population at different intervals of human history. It is estimated that by the year 1 AD the world's population was 300 million (equivalent to the US population today). Then it took off. It did not reach the one billion mark until 1804. The global population has been rapidly increasing since the beginning of last century. In 1922, it reached the 2 billion mark. It took 118 years to add one billion. One more billion was added in the next 37 years (1922–1959) reaching the 3 billion mark. Forty years later in 1999, the world marked the birth of the 6 billionth baby.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    D Vidyasagar

  2. School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Chicago, IL, USA

    D Vidyasagar

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  1. D Vidyasagar
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Correspondence to D Vidyasagar.

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Vidyasagar, D. Global notes: how many babies were ever born in the world? What is the hope for future?. J Perinatol 28, 89–90 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211891

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