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'All hands on deck': Knoxville hospital sees baby boom

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is experiencing a good, old-fashioned baby boom: 257 births for the month of October.

At Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, they're considering calling in an expert to test the water.

Nine months after Valentine's Day, nurses are dealing with a nearly unprecedented baby boom: 257 births in just one month.

"We were just running from room to room and as soon as we could get them recovered and to their next destination, we just brought another one in and delivered another baby," nurse Allie Desonier said. "I remember one day there was 18 births from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., so I remember that day quite vividly."

The uptick in childbirths has sent nurses flipping back through their calendars nine months and everyone has a theory for why the spike in births.

"It was the cold months. Everybody likes to come together and we get the babies as a result from that good family time," laughed womens' services nurse manager Jennifer McGregor.

McGregor faced a unique twist in her challenge staffing up for the baby boom.

"Seventeen nurses that are here on this floor that have also contributed to this increase in numbers," she said.

One of those nurses, Stevi Lowe, has her own theory; "It was right after Christmas, right before Valentine's Day. There was a lot of love to be had."

And the baby boom isn't over yet for Fort Sanders: projections show nurses will stay busy and deliver even more babies than October this month.

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