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Eleven women who work in the Family Maternity Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital have gotten pregnant or had a baby in 2022, a spokesperson with the hospital said in a release.
“We do babies!” she says with a laugh. “That’s what we do!” nurse manager Marguerite Fritsch said.
And do they ever. Among the 11 women in third-floor unit — all nurses or nurse aides — three are having their first baby, six are having their second and one is having her fourth. One very busy mom just had her fifth baby.
The first baby was born in February. The last four are all due in November.
The hospital points out that despite the large number of pregnant staff members who will require maternity leave, these 11 women are just part of 70 maternity ward staff members, saying in part "their leaves are spaced far apart enough that the returning moms can help cover for the moms departing on maternity leave, along with the rest of the staff."
Eight babies are girls and two are boys. The gender of the 11th baby is not yet known.
The names, so far are Kylie, Amari, Jeremiah, Skylar, and Blaire.
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