Ice storm might have led to east central Indiana baby boom
By
Alyson Brodsy |
The Associated Press
POSTED AT
12:00 AM ON Oct. 20, 2005
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MUNCIE -- A January 2005 ice storm that kept thousands in the dark and without heat for days might have led to a small baby boom in eastern Indiana, hospital officials say.
At Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie last week, the mother-baby unit was bracing for a rush already experienced by the neonatal intensive care unit, said Debra Conatser, mother-baby nurse manager.
The city's Voss Center for Women delivered 40 babies in September and was expecting 54 in just two weeks in October. And St. Vincent Randolph Hospital in Randolph County, east of Muncie, was up 40 births for early October over 2004, said Kathy Brookbank, director of patient care services.
Jay County Hospital has seen more births in recent weeks, said the hospital's nurse manager Lisa Craiger.
"We knew it would be coming," she told The Star Press for a Wednesday story. "With no electricity and no heat, you have to stay warm somehow."
Stephanie and Kevin Klinger's first child, J. Wesley, was born at Ball Memorial on Sept. 27 -- a day when 10 babies were delivered at the hospital, compared to a daily average of less than five.
During the ice storm about nine months ago, the Klingers were without power for four days. They cooked in a cast-iron skillet over their fireplace and spent time talking and sleeping under piles of blankets in a closed-off room filled with candles.
They said it seemed natural to continue their efforts to start their family in such circumstances.
"It's the comfort of being close and intimate when it's stressful," Stephanie Klinger said.
"(The ice storm) was like a free day, a bonus," Kevin Klinger said. "You always long for those days when you don't have anything to do."
Still, hospital officials are not yet sure if the small increase in births has been caused by the ice storm or not.
"I would at least give it until October is over to get the big picture," Conatser said.