ANN ARBOR – The University of Michigan experienced a surge in births during a six month span in 2021.
From June 7 through Dec. 7, births at U-M’s Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital increased 10-15%.
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The baby boom was predicted by researchers at the university in the spring of 2021 after birth rates slowed during the initial shutdown due to COVID-19.
Pregnancies gradually increased at U-M between 2017 and 2020 from 4,100 to 4,620 pregnancies each year. But once the pandemic hit, pregnancies dropped by about 14% from November 2020 to spring of 2021.
Read: University of Michigan: ‘Summer baby surge’ expected after slowed pandemic conception rates
The hospital increased both the number of beds and staff to accommodate the uptick in families and babies.
During the six month window, 2,545 babies were born. On average, 4,500 babies are born at Von Voigtlander each year, according to Michigan Medicine’s website.
Compared to the same months in 2020, 375 more babies were born in 2021 -- a 17% increase.
During the baby boom, an average of 14 babies were born each day. The most babies born in 24 hours during that time period was 22 -- and this happened on three different days.
According to U-M, 52% of the babies were boys while 48% were girls.
Instances of multiples also increased by 60% in 2021. Thirty more families gave birth to multiples compared to the year prior. Overall, multiples were born to 80 families in 2021, with 78 sets of twins and two sets of triplets.
Additionally, 308 babies of the 2,545 babies born between June and December were care for in Mott’s NICU -- an increase of 12%.