Texas hospital experiences ‘summertime baby boom’

Andrews Women’s Hospital at Baylor Scott and White All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, has had a busy couple of weeks, and they’re confirming what COVID researchers have been reporting all along―a pandemic baby boom is upon us.

On June 24th, the hospital reported delivering 52 babies in 47 hours. On June 28th, the hospital’s labor and delivery team delivered 55 babies in 44 hours, beating the hospital’s baby boom record in 2018, when staff delivered 48 babies in 41 hours.

If you’re counting, that’s 100 babies in 91 hours, mamas. By comparison, the hospital typically averages 15 deliveries per day, according to their website. “Atlas” and “Daniel” were among the most popular boy names chosen, while six of the babies girls were named “Gianna”.

“While Andrews Women’s Hospital is known as a high-volume delivery hospital, the influx in births was considered rare and exceptional,” Baylor Scott and White said in its news release.

In a new study from the University of Michigan, researchers predict that while COVID-19 initially slowed down pregnancy and birth rates, the trend is reversing.

“Birth rates declined early on in the pandemic, but we expect a dramatic rebound soon,” said lead author Molly Stout, M.D., MSci, maternal fetal medicine director at Michigan Medicine Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital.

“We’re already seeing signs of a summer baby surge.”

100 newborns in Texas would agree with this assessment. Welcome to the world, little ones! Your parents will have quite a story to tell you one day.