FOR Katie Howell, the arrival of daughter Aurora on September the third last year was perfectly planned.
“It was no accident,” says Katie. “We had been deliberately trying for a September baby. We weren’t risking ending up our child being the youngest in the year.”
And understandably so, it seems, as recent figures suggest that children who are born late in the summer are at a huge disadvantage compared to older peers.
For Katie’s partner Miles, 33 — who was a summer baby himself — falling behind in school was a huge concern
She says: “He was the smallest in his class and one of the youngest in his year, and he didn’t want that for our baby as he felt it really did affect him massively.
“He wanted our child to be the oldest in the year.”
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August babies can struggle with reading and writing, typically do worse in exams and are more likely to drop out of school by the age of 16, research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed.
On the contrary, by the age of seven, 80 per cent of kids born in September reached their expected education level, compared to 53 per cent of girls and 47 per cent of boys who arrived a month earlier.
And when they hit 11, girls with the so- called “August penalty” had a 25 per cent higher likelihood of developing special educational needs.
For boys it was 14 per cent.
Taking no chances, Katie, 35, and Miles took every possible precaution to ensure that Aurora would arrive in September.
Katie, from Chelmsford, Essex, runs a spa consultancy. She says: “Miles is a physical instructor for professional golfers and he did some research on how to increase our chances of conception.
“About two or three weeks prior to conceiving, he was in full training mode.
“He believes that had a big impact after doing high intensity training — which encourages the body to release more hormones — that has been proven to increase sperm count.
“As soon as he put that into practice, I instantly got pregnant.
“When we got the due date it came as a huge relief, but it was also quite scary because we were predicted to have her on September 3, so it could have gone either way.
“For us, her being early was a big no-no. We really didn’t want her to be the youngest in the class.
“My sister had an August baby and wishes she would have held her baby back. I would have done the same had Aurora come early.
“It was such a relief when she was born on her due date. I wanted to be able to give her the best chance I could.”
I certainly noticed with my daughter that she was a lot more advanced
Louise Murray
Katie believes she is already seeing the benefits of welcoming an infant in September.
She says: “Aurora’s already so smart. She’s really intelligent, she knows what she wants.
“I’ve had people come up to me and ask me how old she is because she just takes everything in. She’s so alert.
“No baby is perfect but she’s pretty spot on. I feel completely relaxed about her going into nursery as I’m sure she will be brilliant.”
Louise Murray, 49, who lives in Blackheath, southeast London, appreciates the benefits of having a September baby.
Her daughter, Millie, now 19, is set to start at Newcastle University after sparkling academic success throughout school.
Having a child who was the oldest in the year was of utmost importance to the mum-of-two, who reaped the benefits of a September birthday herself and now works as an HR consultant.
She says: “I believe the children who are oldest in school do have a better chance at doing well. I was a September baby and feel I benefited from that academically.
“My reading was more ad- vanced than other children and even socially you are far more adept than your peers.”
Despite careful planning, Louise and her hubby, aviation underwriter Simon, 52, were told that daughter Millie would arrive on August 27.
Louise says: “It was quite stressful having that late August due date, but we hoped for the best as a lot of first babies are late.
“Luckily that was the case with Millie. I did the opposite of everything you’re encouraged to do to bring on labour.
“I avoided hot curries and long walks in a bid to keep her in.
“I was pretty sure she was going to be late. I started having contractions around August 31 so it was touch and go. I really panicked that we could end up with the youngest in the year.”
Louise was induced and welcomed her baby girl on September 1, which was a big relief.
She says: “There were lots of August babies at my NCT (National Childbirth Trust) group and the mums felt they’d be at a disadvantage.
“They have quite a lot of catching up to do. I certainly noticed with my daughter that she was a lot more advanced. She grasped reading more quickly.
“She was walking within ten months, which is fairly unusual and certainly impressed other mums in the group.”
Fast forward 19 years and Millie achieved an A and two Bs in her A-levels. Louise’s son Ollie, 16, born in October three years later, bagged a nine — the highest possible result — in his GCSEs.
Secondary school teacher Tess Millington, 31, had two reasons to aim for a September baby.
She says: “As a teacher, in terms of maternity, having a September baby works out perfectly.
“After summer holidays you only go back to work for a couple of days in September, then a couple of days in July when your maternity finishes, and then you have the rest of the summer off.
“Working in a school, I know it can be very beneficial to have a baby born in September.
“We see children joining nursery who are essentially a whole year younger than their peers and it can be very tough on them. My partner Tom and I didn’t really have any plan.
“But we made sure we weren’t running the risk of having a July baby as I’d lose out on maximum maternity leave by starting too early.”
Tess and partner Tom, 38, from Brighton, welcomed son Luca last September 25, which means he shares a birthday with his mum.
Tess, pictured with Luca, says: “Being a September baby myself, it was really quite nice being the oldest in the year.
“I know that my friends who were born later in the year felt they should have been held back and struggled to an extent.”
Meanwhile Katie and Miles are so thrilled with Aurora’s progress, they want to try for another September tot. Katie says: “I’d absolutely go down the same route.
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“There’s no way I would chance having the youngest in the year.
“There are a couple more months before it’ll be time for Miles to get exercising again.”
