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Kassel, Germany

Germans celebrated their hosting of the soccer World Cup last summer by getting pregnant. The month-long event was treated as a giant party across soccer-mad Germany. Now, the head of the country’s largest maternity clinic, Rolf Kliche, is predicting that births will be up 10 percent to 15 percent over the next month or so, as World Cup–inspired pregnancies reach term. “With many people, the excitement they felt during the matches seems to have lasted and been employed in other ways after the final whistle,” Kliche said. He also observed that feeling happy and relaxed might contribute to women’s fertility. The German national team did better than expected, reaching the semifinals, only to be beaten by Cup winner Italy.