Something may be in the water at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington.
Twelve staff members in the physical therapy/rehabilitation department were at one point pregnant at the same time.
Four of them are currently on maternity leave. Three of them have delivered healthy babies.
Registered nurse Megan Ommodt gave birth to her first child, Evelyn, three months ago. She was among the first in the group to find out she was pregnant.
“It’s stressful to be a new mom, so to know that your co-workers are going through the same thing and you can be supportive of each other, it’s nice," she said.
For some other expecting moms, this was not their first time around at motherhood.
Licensed practical nurse Melissa Tucker is expecting her third child. She already has an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl.
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“It’s kind of cool to answer their questions about things that they are experiencing that they never experienced before,” Tucker said.
Case in point: Her colleague, Jennifer Reynolds, who said her co-workers knew before she did that she was pregnant.
“I was super nauseous the week before,” Reynolds said. “When I found out, I was running to the bathroom and throwing up.”
The challenge now for the hospital is managing upcoming maternity leaves.
These women say the patients are loving this, and it’s been a great experience for the whole department.
“All of our patients now know who’s pregnant, how many are pregnant,” said occupational therapist Sarah Rediske, who is expecting her second child. “They love it. They joke about it and bring it up. It’s an uplifter around here for sure.”
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