Bristol lockdown baby boom street welcomes first arrival

A street that has been experiencing a lockdown baby boom with six women who are pregnant at the same time has welcomed its first new arrival.

Jenni Parkinson, from Bristol, gave birth earlier to daughter Summer.

The women all lived on the same side of Clouds Hill Avenue in St George, when they discovered they were pregnant.

One mother-to-be joked "there must be something in the water", while another said the road would be "like a little festival" when the babies were born.

Ms Parkinson's due date of 1 February was the earliest of the group, and she gave birth to Summer at Cossham Birth Centre in Bristol.

It is her second child with partner Ric Ventura. The couple's first child Skye is two-and-a-half.

The 37-year-old, who runs a community music organisation, said Clouds Hill Avenue now has its own "ready-made community."

"There are lots of young couples starting families in the street because it's an amazing location.

"I think it's maybe a massive coincidence [so many women are pregnant]. Or maybe I started a trend?"

Ailie Tam, the expectant mothers' yoga teacher, is due to give birth to her second child in August. She and her husband Ben already have a daughter, Eni.

The 36-year-old said: "We feel very lucky because we only moved here last March and we were really hoping that the community would [be friendly] but until you move in you don't know.

"The decibels will be increasing in the springtime and the summertime when hopefully restrictions are lifted a bit more. It's going to be really fun."

Catherine Gilmore, 31, is expecting her first baby with her partner Michael Malay.

She said there was a "slow dawning" on Clouds Hill Avenue that women were expecting, with hers due in May.

"There were women popping up every day - or it felt like it - saying they were pregnant.

"It's really lovely, particularly as a first-time mum, not having any of the baby groups or anything that would normally be happening at the time.

"It's really good having these families on the street and the babies that will be hanging out at the park. It'll be like a little festival out there, it's going to be great."

Caroline Hardman, a 33-year-old physiotherapist, has a one-and-a-half year-old daughter called Ruth. She is expecting her second child with her husband Matt.

"We have been running, we have been baking bread, and we have been making babies", he said of their lockdown.

Ms Hardman added: "It started with just a couple [of expectant mothers] and then we found out we were expecting, and then I told Jenni and she said, 'that's really exciting, there's four of us!'

"Every time I spoke to one the number increased.

"So it was funny that every time you said I'm expecting a baby, it was: 'oh yeah, this person down the road is.'"

Victoria Bromley said she thought there was "something in the water" and said the good news contrasted with the harsh realities of the pandemic.

She is due to give birth in July and she and her husband David Hume already have a two-year-old son called Freddie.

"I think everyone came into 2021 hoping that it would be different, that there would be more positivity. And it certainly feels like that for us", the 36-year-old said.

"I really feel for people who have had babies over the course of the last year.

"I think every mum would say maternity leave, even in normal times, can be very isolating. So I just can't even imagine those people who have had to go through it during lockdown."

Ellie Shipman found out she was pregnant while living on the street.

She said: "You can't go out, you can't really see people as much, so maybe it's a time to settle down?"

The 31-year-old artist has since moved but is still part of the community and is expecting her first baby with husband Alex Blogg.

"I think it's just a message of life going on amongst the bleakness of the situation we are in", she said.

"We'll be really excited to meet all the little ones as they arrive throughout the year."

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