Werribee Mercy Hospital coped with a birthing overload last week as 15 babies were born in 24 hours – triple the usual number of daily births.
Eight girls and seven boys were born at the hospital last Wednesday, including five babies born within 45 minutes from 5am to 5.45am.
To add to the drama, it was obstetrician Berna Venter’s first day at the hospital after moving from Darwin.
Ms Venter said, on average, about five babies were born at Werribee Mercy each day.
“It was a little overwhelming, but the team worked well together and knew what they were doing,” she said.
“Every patient deserves all the care they need, and we had to borrow one or two midwives from other wards.”
Ms Venter said although it was extremely unusual for so many babies to be born at Werribee Mercy on the same day, it was likely to become a more regular occurrence as the hospital aimed to increase its number of births by 20 per cent this financial year.
Werribee Mercy delivered 3144 babies in 2014-15, a record for the hospital.
The number was up from 2739 births in 2013-14 and a staggering 1392 more than 10 years ago.
From existing data, it’s anticipated about 74 babies will be born each week at Werribee Mercy this financial year, meaning almost 3900 women will give birth at the hospital in the next 11 months and one week.
