More pink and blue balloons than usual decorated the maternity ward at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre this summer.
“In August, we had 251 births, which is the highest we’ve ever had in one single month. We had a record-breaking month,” Debbie Leitch, the hospital’s director of maternal child services, said on Thursday.
In July, the hospital matched its previous record set a few years ago of 249 births. Leitch said while summer births climbed, it wasn’t a huge jump.
“I think we’re just progressing the way you would expect in any town.
“We’re seeing a slight increase overall in the number of births this year. By the end of this year, we may be up by about 100 births overall.”
In 2011, births at the hospital increased 2.2 per cent to 2,577, up from 2,520 in 2010.
Leitch said there’s no way to predict the monthly birth rate.
“It kind of fluctuates by month — up and down, up and down.”
In September, there were 212 births at the hospital.
Red Deer hospital has 23 postpartum beds for moms, eight labour and delivery rooms, and four outpatient assessment labour triage beds. The neonatal intensive care unit has 17 beds for premature babies.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com