BEAUMONT, Texas — Nine months into the pandemic, professionals at Baptist Hospital said the COVID-19 baby boom is very real.
Dr. Snehal Doshi, director of the newborn intensive care unit said he thinks it has everything to do with the pandemic.
"I definitely think we're have a little bit of a baby boom right now," Doshi said.
Their unit has seen a 10 percent increase in newborn babies.
"Our day-to-day operations in the NICU and the nursery has gotten busier. Usually, we tend to slow down a little bit in the fall coming into winter and we haven't seen that slow down. We have constantly seen more babies being delivered," Doshi said.
Dr. Doshi's staff is putting in extra hours to meet the demand, but he said it's a trend they saw coming.
MORE | Raw interview with Dr. Doshi
"It's been about nine months since we've been quarantining, so things are bound to happen, not a whole lot of activities to do," Doshi said.
Kassandra Long, a mother of two, said the uncertainty with coronavirus is why she's not looking to have baby number three right now.
"I can understand why people have had COVID babies, I just wouldn't recommend," Long said.
She said the challenges are different now that COVID-19 is a concern.
"During a pandemic I think it would be hard just to get a job after you have it or leaving it with anybody cause you can't now, you have to worry about a virus. It's not like we're worried about the flu, we're worried about COVID," Long said.
While the baby boom has ushered in busy times, Dr. Doshi said the end result makes it all worth it.
"Being able to get that baby home safely is it's own reward," Doshi said.