Summer’s sweet arrivals: Niagara Health celebrates wave of births during unit’s busiest time of year

While the majority of departments across Niagara Health are busiest during the winter months due to respiratory illness season, one unit remains an exception.

The Women and Babies’ Unit, which delivers more than 3,500 babies each year, hits its peak in the summertime, with August typically ringing in as the busiest month of the year for births.

It’s a trend that’s illustrated in the monthly baby calendar now posted on the unit and shared on the hospital’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.

“Ever since I started working in Labour and Delivery, I kept a confidential list of all of the first names of the babies I delivered,” says Sarah Keddy, a registered nurse who came up with the idea to share the names on social media earlier this year.

“I love hearing all the different names and seeing which names are popular, and figured other parents would share that interest. As a mom of three, I could picture adding my own kids’ names on the little footprints we give to parents.”

Labour and Delivery was thoughtfully designed to be as private as possible. The calendar is a way to both engage parents and give them the opportunity to celebrate their babies. In addition, it captures name trends, the most popular birthday of that month and the ratio of girls and boys born.

Keddy, who handles the monthly stats for the calendar, gives new parents a paper footprint – pink for girls and blue for boys – as part of their baby package for them to fill out with their child’s name or just gender, if they wish. Parents often post the footprint to the calendar themselves using sticky tack.

Natalie Doucet, Director, Women and Babies’, says that the calendar also gives perspective into how busy the unit is.

“We love seeing the calendar fill up with tiny footprints,” she says. “It gives us a moment to celebrate each baby’s individual story, while also serving as a reminder of just how busy – and rewarded – our team is. Our environment can be really clinical and fast paced, but our team of staff, physicians and midwives work exceptionally hard to deliver the best care possible.”

While the reasons for baby booms happening in the summer are anecdotal, some theories suggest that people spending more time indoors during November and December, as well as planned timing with being off during the summer, may contribute to peaks in conception.

For example, in July, there were 300 babies born at Niagara Health compared to 270 in March.

“What always amazes me is the incredible feedback our team receives, whether it’s a quiet thank you from a new parent or recognition through Niagara Health’s STAR program,” Doucet says. “They work tirelessly, and seeing their dedication acknowledged like that means everything.”

The STAR program recognizes staff, physicians and volunteers across the hospital for providing extraordinary patient experiences. Recipients are presented with a Gold STAR pin and a certificate of honour. Current and former patients can contact the Office of Patient Experience to share their positive stories.

Cultivating a culture of excellence is something that Dr. Karen Macmillan, Chief, Obstetrics and Gynecology, says is integral to creating positive experiences within the unit.

“An immense amount of expertise, dedication and compassion goes into the care our team provides to patients and their loved ones,” says Dr. Macmillan. “That goes beyond scheduled shifts at the hospital. Our teams are expertly trained to deliver the most up-to-date evidence for care and have an unparallelled passion for the work that they do.”

This fall, the team will expand to include the hospital’s first-ever hospitalist midwife position. Midwives, who typically manage low-risk pregnant patients and newborns, have their own scope of practice, while obstetricians are trained to deal with a wider range of patients, including more complex and acute cases.

“Having a hospitalist midwife is a complement to our existing model,” says Doucet. “This role will support our physicians and strengthen the entire care team so we can continue providing exceptional care to our patients and their families. The successful candidate will provide comprehensive, full-scope midwifery care, including advanced assessment, diagnosis, management and co-ordination of care across the unit.”

The person in this role will work closely with the team, including nurses like Keddy, who has worked on the unit for 15 years.

“The nurses across Women and Babies’ truly care so much and deliver the best care that we possible can,” says Keddy. “There’s no such thing as special VIP treatment – everyone gets treated this way. We’re here to work hard and celebrate these special moments with families. It’s a privilege to be part of such a big moment in people’s lives.”