It has been a busy few weeks at a maternity ward in Fort Worth, Texas. The medical staff delivered 107 babies within four days, affirming what the experts said about a baby boom in the middle of a pandemic.
From June 24 and 25, the labor and delivery staff workers at the Andrews Women's Hospital at Baylor Scott and White All Saints Medical Center welcomed 52 births, followed by 55 births on June 28.
The popular Texas hospital is used to high volumes of baby deliveries, but the administrators said in an official statement that the recent births have been "rare and exceptional." The hospital even beat its previous record of 48 baby deliveries in 41 hours in 2018.
Reports cited that many of the babies were named Atlas, Daniel, or Isaiah for the boys, while around six baby girls born from these groups were named Gianna. Reign was also a favorite name for the girls.
A Dedicated Women's Hospital
Commonly called Baylor Scott and White, the Fort Worth hospital is the only dedicated women's hospital in town and averagely sees 6,000 deliveries every year. The hospital is a premier 63-bed facility for providing neonatal intensive care for the tiniest newborns dealing with medical issues.
The NICU team at Baylor Scott and White are highly skilled and trained, from the doctors and nurses down to the social workers, as they work together with various families. The hospital is also recognized as a Level IV maternal care center by the Department of State Health Services, which provides comprehensive, high-quality medical care for pregnant mothers and their babies.
Expecting the Uptick in Deliveries
Michelle Stenley, the hospitals' nursing director, said via Kera News that they were expecting the baby boom some nine months after the first stay-at-home orders, but that didn't happen by December 2020 or January 2021. The births started peaking this early June, with Stenley saying that the parents might have taken a few more months after the quarantine to get comfortable and planned making babies.
The nursing director said that Baylor Scott and White is currently overwhelmed with pregnant moms that they need to get creative and sustain their efficient system to accommodate all of the maternity patients.
Turnover at the labor and delivery department has been quicker and, when possible, the new moms are immediately brought to the postpartum floor. One mom confirmed that she spent just 39 minutes from the hospital driveway to delivering her third child in the prep room as the labor and delivery sections were full. The nurses were also taking extra shifts because more help was needed.
It comes as a study from the experts at the University of Michigan revealed that the COVID-19 lockdowns had reversed the downward trend of pregnancy and births in recent years. Dr. Molly Stout said there had been a "dramatic rebound" and signs of a summertime baby boom.
The experts noted that a baby boom also occurred during the influenza pandemic in 1918, the Great Depression in 1929, and the recession in America in 2008.
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