As a result, the number of newborns is expected to hit 20 million this year, according to Xinhua new agency. And with the "Olympic baby" fever, the numbers of babies will be even higher.

The baby boom has already started to put strains on schools and hospitals and later on, job markets. Experts warn irrational selective births could result in a shortage of social resources.

"The birth rush will create a series of shortages starting from when babies are born to the time when they look for jobs," said Yu Hai, a sociology professor in Shanghai-based Fudan University.

Last year, when "millennium babies" reached school age, schools around the country were reportedly packed to capacity. Primary schools in Lanzhou, capital of Northwest China's Gansu Province, saw a jump of enrolment numbers by 10 to 30 percent in 2006.

Parents who had babies in the Year of the Pig have found that the procedure of having a delivery in a good hospital or looking for nannies a frustrating ordeal, as beds and nannies were booked in advance.