A baby boom kept health care workers at the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) incredibly busy last year.
The southwestern Ontario’s largest hospital network announced on Tuesday that it delivered a recorded number of babies in 2022. Over the 12 month period, there were a total of 6,139 births, including 160 sets of twins and seven sets of triplets. That is a three per cent increase over 2021 when 5,964 babies were born at the LHSC.
Triplets Ruby, Summer and Avah with parents Stephanie and Marc at the LHSC, June 15, 2022.
“Seeing a record number of births at LHSC this past year does not come without its challenges,” said Amanda Williams, the hospital’s director of the Women’s Care Program. “We are so thankful to our staff for their hard work and dedication to patient care amid the pressures this volume of deliveries had on our system. This milestone is truly an acknowledgement of the expertise and quality of care our team continues to provide to expectant parents across our region.”
Thursdays were determined to be the hospital’s busiest day of the week for deliveries, while the summer was the busiest season with 1,615 babies born between June and August.
Hospital officials stated that despite the record number of deliveries in 2022, health care workers were able to continue to offer expectant mothers a high-quality of care. That included prioritizing cases based on level of patient need, adding an additional triage clinic to alleviate wait times, and continuing to offer triage support for urgent medical concerns 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Our team at LHSC is dedicated to providing compassionate, inclusive and equitable care to Londoners and residents from our surrounding communities,” said President of Children’s Hospital Nash Syed. “As our population in southwestern Ontario continues to grow, we are excited to build on this milestone, and continue to support patients through our legacy of the best possible care, from the early moments of a child’s life.”
Baby Macy Luella born to parents Nieva and Mark on November 12, 2022.
The LHSC is one of the largest, single-site birth units in Canada. Approximately 69 per cent of deliveries in 2022 were London-based patients, 18 per cent were from southwestern Ontario, 11 per cent were from Middlesex County, and 2 per cent were from elsewhere in the province.
The baby boom seen in 2022, may be continuing into 2023, according to Williams. So far this year, 613 babies have been delivered at the LHSC with those volumes expected to remain steady throughout the year, she said.
