Quebec women are having more babies than at any time in the past 30 years, according to Quebec's statistics institute.
The agency recorded 87,600 births in 2008 -- 2,800 more than the previous year.
The fertility rate for Quebec women last year was 1.74 children per woman, the highest since 1976, according to the Institut de la statistique du Quebec.
It's the sixth straight year that Quebec's birth rate has increased.
Fertility in 2008 was close to the two-children-per-woman mark in outlying regions of Quebec such as the North Shore and Abitibi-Temiscamingue.
The Montreal and Quebec City regions had the lowest birth rates.
There were several other birth-related findings:
- 45 per cent of babies were first-borns
- Just over 25 per cent of babies had at least one parent who was born outside Canada;
- 63 per cent of new mothers were not married.
