Fifty Shades of Grey will likely cause a baby boom in 2012, a culture expert has said.

The erotic novel by EL James has become the fastest-selling book of all time this year, reaching a million copies sold in just 11 weeks.

 
The book is said to have led girlfriends and wives to want sex more often than usual, leading to an increase in the number of pregnancies.

Professor Ellis Cashmore, expert in Culture at Staffordshire University, has predicted that a rise of babies can be attributed to the book.

He told Yahoo: "With the millions of copies it has sold, it makes complete sense to assume that in nine months' time we are going see a baby boom.

"By the very nature of the subject matter, I'm sure we can expect to see some couples revisiting and reigniting ideas that may have lain dormant for some time in the bedroom.

"It may reawaken passions or just accentuate the passions that already exist within relationships. It is a very sexy book, from what I have read, nothing too over the top graphically - but it has struck a chord by exploring the woman's mind in sexual situations, from her point of view."

He added: "It is already quite a phenomenon, every woman is talking about it - whether it be in the gym, at work, on the bus or even in the supermarket.

"Previously we have seen a spike in pregnancies during World Cups, but this time it looks like girls being inspired to get into the bedroom. It's not a difficult equation: more sex equals more pregnancies, which equals more babies."

Forum members of maternity website Baby Centre have also praised the book for helping them conceive.

One user wrote: "My baby will be a fifty shades baby for sure. And I am damn proud of it."

Another mother-to-be posted: "I would like to thank the author of 50 Shades of Grey for our newest edition."

Meanwhile, new father Thomas, 38, from Cardiff, South Wales, said he was surprised with his wife's sense of adventure since reading the novel.

He said: "The book turned her into a bit of an animal. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it at first - but she just couldn't get enough and now we're expecting our third child together."

50 Shades of Grey will soon be made into a Hollywood movie, after Universal and Focus purchased the rights