Irish Examiner view: Births of a Nation

Today, the Irish Examiner is continuing its closer look at aspects of childbirth — from the groundbreaking work of CUMH neonatal ICU, to our declining birthrate, to IVF treatment

Picture: iStock

There are few more fundamentally important indicators of the confidence in the future of a society than the measurement of birth rates over a period of time.

Throughout the natural world there are countless fascinating examples of species which self-regulate their fertility — arctic ground squirrels, some apex predators and apes, birds and insects — because of various changes to their environment.