Some local hospitals are expecting an increase in spring births, while others had lower numbers of winter births than in past years.
by Juliette Rihl and Oliver Morrison
Laurie Sloan and her husband have always known they wanted to have a big family. The stay-at-home mom, who is now pregnant with her fourth child, didn’t let the pandemic stop their plans. “We were stuck at home and hanging out together and it was kind of fun watching all the kids be close in age and play together,” she said.
Sloan, who is now expecting a son in June, thought being pregnant during the pandemic would allow her to spend more time preparing for his arrival. “I thought by the time the baby was here, life would be back to normal,” she said. “That’s obviously not going to happen.”
For Sloan, pandemic pregnancy has been bittersweet. On one hand, working from their Highland Park home has allowed her husband to help out more. On the other hand, the experience has been isolating. “I just feel like I can’t go anywhere without risking myself or the baby,” she said.
In one important respect, Sloan is not alone: She is one of 60 women who are expected to give birth at The Midwife Center for Birth & Women’s Health in June. That would be twice as many as who gave birth there last year in June.
Across the country, experts have predicted a nationwide ‘baby bust,’ or a lower number of births than previous years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying economic recession. Yet interviews with doctors and experts in the Pittsburgh region, paired with local birth data, paint a more nuanced picture.
Two hospitals and a birthing center reported an increase in expected births this spring. UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Oakland, the largest maternity hospital in Allegheny County, is seeing a trend “paradoxical” to the national numbers, said Dr. Gabriella Gosman, the hospital’s vice president of medical affairs. Magee, which advertises that it delivers around 45% of the babies in Allegheny County, has been seeing about 10% more newly pregnant patients in the second half of 2020 than in 2019, Gosman said. “It’s a little mysterious. I don’t know if it’s a ‘boom,’ but it’s certainly not what we’re hearing nationally.”
Dr. Jamie Wright at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital (photo by Jay Manning/PublicSource).
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Could the pandemic bring a baby boom to the Pittsburgh region? Early data is mixed.
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