The effect of the lunar cycle on frequency of births and birth complications

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the lunar cycle on the frequency of deliveries and/or delivery complications. Study design: This was a retrospective cohort, secondary analysis of 564,039 births across 62 lunar cycles that were identified from North Carolina birth certificate data from 1997 to 2001. Results: Using analysis of variance and t-tests, we found no significant differences in the frequency of births, route of delivery, births to multigravid women, or birth complications across the 8 phases of the moon or between documented high- and low-volume intervals of the lunar cycle. Conclusion: An analysis of 5 years of data demonstrated no predictable influence of the lunar cycle on deliveries or complications. As expected, this pervasive myth is not evidence based. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.