The Mystery Of Princeton's Baby Boom

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The labor and delivery ward at Fairview Northland Medical Center in the small town Princeton, Minn., doesn't usually see a lot of action.

But folks in town clearly had a lot of something going on last fall that has created one heck of a baby boom.

Dr. Kristen Williams said she hasn't had a day off since June.

She's delivered five babies in one day over a 16-hour period. For a hospital where one delivery a day is common, that's a big deal.
"At the end of the day, we were like, whew," she said.

Doctors expect to deliver 70 babies in July, which is double what they typically see.

The staff hasn't seen anything like it.

Nursing supervisor Char Dekraker thinks the weather might have played a role.

Or perhaps it was last year's release of "50 Shades of Grey"? Or maybe more families are moving to the area?

We called the city offices and spoke with City Clerk Katie Hunter.

"I couldn't tell you from a city clerk's perspective it's booming huge, because it really hasn't," she said.

She said the numbers don't back the theory that more people are moving to the area. But she expects the hospital has many more busy months to come.

"I feel like that everywhere I go, too. Everybody's pregnant," she said. "Maybe you notice when you have a belly too."

Hunter is also expecting. She and her husband are expecting their fifth child.

Her theory?

"The water, I don't know, we can't stay off our husbands," she said.

Doctors are anticipating they'll be very busy with deliveries again in September and October. They say if they keep this pace up, they'll have to look at expanding their 13-room hospital ward.