Staff at Queensway Carleton Hospital having babies in unprecedented numbers
For staff at the Queensway Carleton Childbirth Unit, the latest baby boom feels especially personal.
Nurses and doctors aren’t just delivering babies for others. They’re having their own.
“So, we’ve had a total of 16 nurses, including some of our physicians as well, having babies in the last year. Most of them within the last six months,” said Shannon Adams, clinical manager for the Mother, Baby and Special Care Nursery at the Queensway Carleton Hospital.
After helping countless other moms for years, the frontline healthcare heroes at the QCH are welcoming their own bundles of joy.
“We all love babies, so why not,” said Tima Hijazi, who just delivered her third child.
The women, now on maternity leaves, gather monthly to swap baby stories, socialize, and take group photos.
Nurses line up for a photo in Andrew Hayden Park. (Joel Haslam CTV Ottawa)
“We love our little babypaloozas,” said Hijazi.
“I love it,” said nurse Dani Grieves.
“These girls are my family. I’m not from here, so they’ve become my second family.”
“It’s like baby fever,” said nurse and first-time mom, Amy Iradukunda.
“It’s really nice to see a colleague going through the same thing as you at the same time.”
Nurses are all smiles as they reconnect with colleagues and learn about each other’s children. They say they consider one another “family”. (Joel Haslam CTV Ottawa)
Sure, nurses and doctors on the unit at the QCH have given birth there before.
“But not to this extent, for sure,” said Adams.
“Some of us just started announcing that we were pregnant, and they just kept coming,” said nurse Grieves with a laugh.
And that has many poking fun at the cause of all these pregnancies.
“We’re concerned there may be something in the water,” said Adams.
“So, if you come here, try not to drink the water if you don’t want to have a baby,” she laughed.
The gatherings are also an opportunity to chat about the health of their workplace after some very challenging years. COVID, long hours, and cuts to hospitals have taken a heavy toll on Canada’s health-care workers.
The outings are fun for new moms and their children, as the nurses get to know each other outside of work at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. (Joel Haslam CTV Ottawa)
“It’s an opportunity to talk about the future for all of us and speak up for what is most important for the future of health care in this country,” said mom and nurse Alandra Brown who has worked at QCH for more than 15 years.
“We’re all concerned with what we’re returning to and really hope that people will look to their political views and parties and speak up,” she said.
While the maternity leaves have led to staffing challenges, the nurses say their colleagues have been understanding and compassionate.
“Everyone is so supportive and they’re just happy for you and cheering you on and excited to welcome you back,” said nurse Kirsten O’Brien, expecting her first baby early next month.
The nurses say being a mother will help give practical advice to patients upon their return to the Childbirth Unit at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. (Joel Haslam CTV Ottawa)
The nurses believe motherhood does equip them with new and valuable tools for their return to the childbirth unit.
“Just knowing what it’s like to go home with a newborn. It makes me feel like I can give some better advice sending them home, or even just getting through labour. I do feel like it does help,” said Grieves.
“It’s completely different than what you read in textbooks, right? The more kids you have, the more you learn. It’s just a non-stop learning curve,” said Hijazi.
“Whenever a patient would ask me, ‘Do you have a child?’ I would say, ‘No, but I wish to have one, one day,’” said Iradukunda.
“Now, I’ve got the experience,” she smiled.
For new parents heading out into the world with their newborns, that shared experience will be something precious to cling to.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial.
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
As Israel pushes deeper into Rafah, Hamas regroups elsewhere in ungoverned Gaza
Israeli forces were battling Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including in parts of the devastated north that the military said it had cleared months ago, where Hamas has exploited a security vacuum to regroup.
Feds 'committed to doing more,' but minister offers no timeline for Canadian Disability Benefit boost
Amid significant criticism from advocates, Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Minister Kamal Khera is defending her government's long-promised, newly unveiled Canada Disability Benefit, calling the funds an "initial step," but without laying out a timeline for future expansion of the program.
Balancing act: Canadian North’s first Inuk CEO juggles Arctic airline challenges
With carriers' flight volumes above the 60th parallel hovering below pre-pandemic levels, Canadian North’s first Inuk CEO now bears the task of balancing those financial and logistical challenges with the needs of communities for which she feels a deep affinity.
Thousands of civilians evacuated from northeast Ukraine as Russia presses renewed border assault
Thousands more civilians have fled Russia's renewed ground offensive in Ukraine's northeast that has targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire, officials said Sunday.