Will getting Brexit done create another baby boom in the UK? – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

Across the UK, the number of babies born in (************************************************** (was down on) *****************************************************************************,so no Olympic baby boom there, according to the Office for National Statistics.

(ONS tablesfor England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland showed there were (********************************************************************************, babies born in (**************************************************************************, the year of the games.

The following year – when Johnson’s supposed baby boom would have materialized – the numbers were slightly down to 812, (in 2019.

So the “paroxyms of joy” that Johnson spoke of after Team GB’s gold medal haul did not lead to a baby boom.

In London, the ONS also show a small drop in births – from (***********************************************************************************************, (recorded for) ************************************************************************** to (****************************************************************************************, ****************************************************************************************** for (****************************************************************************.

But there was a lot of talk about a baby boomin 2018. One consultant clinical psychologist was so excited, she explained that a national sense of optimism can act as an aphrodisiac. “When you experience feelings of novelty, interest and motivation your brain releases dopamine and noradrenaline, which in turn increase levels of oxytocin and vasopressin – chemicals associated with arousal. On a neurobiological level, the Olympic baby boom makes sense. ”

Notwithstanding the absence of such a boom, hopes that Brexit will cause such a leap in dopamine levels seem like a stretch.