Royal baby: 4 myths surround the full moon

A full moon is seen in the sky near Liverpool, in north-west England, in the early hours of June 24, 2013.

In London, the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton has just delivered a baby boy. A full moon will also light up the sky tonight in the English city. Coincidence? Some think not. Here are some popular superstitions tied to full moons.

1) The moon is pulling babies into the world

Twin boys in the neonatal unit at a hospital operated by Doctors Without Borders on Jan. 13, 2011 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

It is widely believed in many parts of the world that the gravitational pull from the moon forces women to go into labor. However, birth data analysis shows that the same number of babies are born on a full moon as any other day.

2) The moon is causing crime

Police stand in the back garden of a property in Portslade on July 12, 2010 near Brighton, England.

In 2007 in Brighton, England, police went on record to say there was a link between full moons and crime. "I compared a graph of full moons and a graph of last year's violent crimes and there is a trend,” Inspector Andy Parr told the Brighton Argus. “People tend to be more aggressive.”

3) The moon injures your pets

Munch, a Bulldog, poses for a picture during a news conference by the American Kennel Club in New York City.

Injuries and illness among dogs and cats (ranging from cardiac arrest to trauma) seemed to be higher during the full moon than other times of the month, a 2007 study found. In studying 11,940 cases at the Colorado State University Veterinary Medical Center, the researchers found the risk of emergency room visits on days surrounding full moons to be 23 percent higher for cats and 28 percent higher for dogs.

4) The moon sways voters 

Presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. (Paul Ellis/Getty Images)

Human behavioral scientist Guy Cramer claimed the swaying of public opinion toward presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush in the Gallup polls were linked to “the changing ratios of positive and negative ions in the atmosphere, which are directly associated with the effects of the Full Moon.”