Doctors who work in Houston’s busiest maternity ward say they’re expecting an especially bustling June, leading some to conclude that Hurricane Ike was the perfect storm for making babies.
It’s been eight months since Ike knocked out the region’s electricity, leaving many with no television, Internet access or other distractions for days, if not weeks. Now there’s a curious bump in the number of women who are rounding out their third trimesters of pregnancy.
Several obstetrical practices associated with The Woman’s Hospital of Texas are extra-busy these days with prenatal care.
“I looked, somewhat in shock, at my little book of deliveries for June, and it’s 26,” said Dr. John Irwin, president of Obstetrical and Gynecological Associates.
He routinely delivers 15 to 20 babies a month and called the Ike boomlet “a real phenomenon.” His colleagues in the 35-physician practice have seen a similar increase in patients who probably conceived during the powerless days after Ike.
“There’s about a 25 percent increase in the number of deliveries coming up in mid-June to mid-July,” said Irwin, also chief of surgery service at Woman’s Hospital.
At a hospital that ranks in the top five for births statewide, that means at least 100 more bundles of joy this summer. “We are well-prepared for it,” said hospital CEO Linda Russell. “We have just opened up a new wing with 92 additional beds.”
The hospital usually delivers around 8,000 babies annually. In 2008, the facility clocked more than 9,000 births and expects to break that record this year. And because August, September and October traditionally have the most deliveries, the hospital will require additional staff for five months this year, Russell said.
Storms and blackouts are routinely remembered with baby bounties. But this time, with the recession creeping in, folks had multiple reasons to stop going out and start snuggling in.
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