COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — There’s a baby boom inside a local maternity ward.
Nearly a dozen of the nurses on Grant Medical Center’s labor and delivery floor all gave birth around the same time. Now, the babies and mothers share a bond like no other.
The babies were all born in the hospital’s maternity ward, the same ward where their mothers deliver babies on a daily basis. Many of the women helped deliver each other’s babies.
Administrative Nurse Manager of Labor and Delivery Robyn Lutz said many of the nurses worked right up until their due date.
“All of them breastfeed, and they have to cover each other if they’re going to pump and it’s just so wonderful for our patients to see them working and breastfeeding and all of the positive things that they can teach as nurses to the pregnant women that are here,” Lutz said.
There are currently 10 babies ranging in age from seven weeks old to nineteen months, with one more due at the beginning of January.
Erin Williams was the first to learn she was pregnant, unknowingly setting off a chain reaction.
“It just like trickled in, little by little and then when I was on maternity leave, they were like, ‘Hey, guess who’s pregnant, guess who’s pregnant, guess who’s pregnant,” so it was pretty cool,” Williams said.
Kortney Belt is a first-time mother. She said the mothers and babies are all now bonded for life.
“I trust these women with my life, obviously,” Belt said. “I gave them that opportunity and they took care of me and my baby and I’m just so grateful to every one of them. I love them.”
Jordan Fox has three children now. She said being a mom helps them on the job.
“I just really think it’s special to be there for mom’s that are going through this time, and it makes it even better when you’ve gone through it and so you can understand where their anxiety during labor comes from,” Fox said.
This wasn’t Taylor Krinock’s first rodeo, either. She recently gave birth to her son Lane but has two other kids at home.
“I think it’s really great we always know we have a support system we can ask, and if we run into any issues, we always have a buddy to ask and they’re probably going through the same thing we are,” Krinock said.
Elizabeth Barrowman, first time mother to an eight-month-old girl, said it’s nice to have others who are in the same boat to lean on.
“If I have any questions or any breastfeeding tips or baby tips, I have someone I can call, multiple people I can text, too, which is really nice and they’re going through the same thing I am, the sleepless nights,” Barrowman said.
It’s been a busy year of celebrations including lots of baby showers and playdates. But the party is just getting started for this big, happy family which will soon be complete when Jaclyn Nowak has her daughter in January.
“She’s lucky already,” Nowak said. “She doesn’t even know it.”
