Baby Boom

It's started. All those people with nothing to do after last year's hurricanes are now keeping Labor and Delivery wards busy. Here is some of the Orlando Sentinel article which can be found at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-asecstormbabies07060705jun07,0,7008856.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

9 months after storms . . . --------------------
`There was no electricity, they were spending a lot of time at home, there were candles and -- I'll leave the rest up to you.'

By Sandra PediciniSentinel
Staff WriterJune 7, 2005

Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne have given new meaning to the term "stormy romance."

The power was out and there was nowhere to go. Central Florida couples did what many couples do when the lights go out.So, it's no coincidence there's a baby boom nine months after Hurricane Charley.

Since May 20 -- 40 weeks after Charley hit -- the number of births is up 26 percent at just one hospital compared with this time last year."The electricity being out, just like the blizzards up North, you have to play by Mother Nature's rules, I guess. Mother Nature's entertainment," said Mark Growe of Windermere. He became a first-time father last week when his wife, Amy, gave birth to 7-pound, 10-ounce Sarah Elizabeth.

"I guess, from all that destruction," Growe said, "there's a little ray of sunshine that came out of it for some people."

Hospitals throughout the region report a surge in the number of births, which they attribute to last year's triple hurricane whammy.Florida Hospital, one of the region's largest hospital groups, has seen double-digit gains since May 20 compared with the same period last year.

That includes a 26 percent increase at Winter Park Memorial and an 18 percent spike at its downtown Orlando campus.Other hospitals report similar gains, including Central Florida Regional in Sanford and Health Central in Ocoee. Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach has posted 25 percent more deliveries than a year ago.Orlando Regional Healthcare, which operates Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women, could not provide data.

Congratulations to all the new mothers and fathers.

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