LONDON, June 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Women Most Want Summer Babies - Even Though They Might Do Poorly at School

Wannabe mums would most like to have a baby in the summer, and take advantage of maternity leave in the warmer weather - despite reports that children with summer birthdays don't do as well as children born at other times of the year^[1].

New research by Clearblue, to mark the launch of new Digital Ovulation Test with Dual Hormone Indicator, shows that more women would like to give birth in early summer than at any other time of the year - with June the most popular month, named by exactly one in five women (20%), while November is the least popular month for women planning a pregnancy, named by just 2.2%.

Yet latest reports from child experts - including the Institute for Fiscal Studies - show that summer-born children get consistently lower results at school, are more likely to leave education at 16, tend to be more unhappy at school AND have less chance of getting in to a high-performing university.

Despite these preferences, over half of British women still feel they have little control when planning a pregnancy - half said they would like to have more influence over the time of year when their baby is born, so they could aim for their preferred month. But it would seem that modern women are still in the dark when it comes to getting pregnant.

Clearblue worked with social trends expert Dr Sandra Wheatley on a new global report which looks into women's approach to planning a pregnancy across the world. She says, "Fertility has remained the less controllable element in the lives of women today. Until the last couple of decades, the main focus of scientists was to prevent conception, not to assist it. The Clearblue survey further supports this trend as it reveals that more than 48% of women in the UK feel that pregnancy planning is one of the areas in their life they can control the least."

The report shows that women in the UK still believe that getting pregnant is solely down to 'Mother Nature' and that there is nothing they can do to influence this; yet the findings reveal that one in every two couples could be trying for a baby at the wrong time^[2] - and by leaving it to luck, they are missing their best time to try AND their preferred month to finally give birth.

But now, to help women on their journey to get pregnant and have more flexibility in their planning - feeling more empowered in their efforts to get pregnant - Clearblue has launched the most advanced ovulation test ever. The new Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test with Dual Hormone Indicator is the ONLY ovulation test that can typically identify a woman's four best days to get pregnant - two more days than any other ovulation test on the market, giving her the knowledge she needs to have confidence she is trying to conceive at the best time.

To help women plan their pregnancy, giving back that control, the new Clearblue Digital with Dual Hormone Indicator arms them with better knowledge of their wider fertility window. The new test can help women to feel more in charge, stay relaxed and have fun. By identifying an increased number of fertile days over any other ovulation test, this new test gives a couple more flexibility in planning their quality time together, so they can take advantage of more opportunities to get pregnant.

Dr Sandra Wheatley adds: "No matter how old or young a woman is, the knowledge of their fertile days can empower them to strike a balance between their own feelings of readiness and their body's ability to reproduce.

"Being able to identify her four best days to get pregnant will make any woman feel more confident that she can have increased influence over this last piece of the fertility puzzle."

The new Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test with Dual Hormone Indicator is a simple urine test that detects the rise in estrogen a few days before ovulation, to identify additional days of 'High' fertility that no other ovulation test can. It also detects the LH surge 24-36hrs before ovulation, to identify the days of 'Peak' fertility. The new Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test with Dual Hormone Indicator is available in stores now in packs of 10 test sticks (one month's supply) and 20 test sticks (two months' supply). For further information on Clearblue, visit http://www.clearblue.com.

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1. Telegraph Online article, Julie Henry, Education Correspondent, 03 February 2013

2. Johnson SR, Foster L and Ellis J. Women's knowledge regarding ovulation and most likely time of conception. Human Reproduction (2011) 26: i236

2. Clearblue Ovulation and Fertility U&A 2012 (Ipsos)

Notes to editors

About Clearblue

Clearblue® is the world's leading brand in Pregnancy and Fertility consumer diagnostics. Consumers choose Clearblue® products because they deliver the accuracy and trust consumers need and deserve when they are trying to conceive, or suspect they may be pregnant. More information about Clearblue® products is available at http://www.clearblue.com. Clearblue® is a registered trade mark of SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH.

SOURCE Clearblue