MACON, Ga. — When coronavirus hit the country this year we went on lock down. We had a lot of time on our hands and one OBGYN, Dr. Theresa Luhrs says that has led in their practice to a baby boom.
"The joke is you'll name them 'Covidina' or 'Corona,'" she said with a smile.
Well, under the circumstances, that would be appropriate.
Doctor Luhrs is an OBGYN and she anticipates a lot more baby pictures going up on her delivery wall of fame this winter.
"The overall number of patients due per month has increased," she stated. I'd say on average per month is 20-30 percent, so I think that's significant."
Her planner is full, marked with the number of women who will have births that started when we went into lockdown.
"They just say, 'Well, I was at home, he was at home, we were really bored. We couldn't go anywhere and we thought, Let's make a baby,'" Dr. Luhrs explained.
Bailey Goodman is 13 weeks along and hadn't heard about the baby boom at Dr. Luhrs' practice, but she says she isn't surprised at all by the numbers.
"But I'm thinking of all of our friends -- there are probably six of us that are now pregnant -- the joke was it's something in the water, but I think it's the quarantine," she said with a smile.
This is Bailey's second pregnancy, but it feels a lot different from her first. She says this time, there is more anxiety.
"How do you keep them safe from COVID, and at the same time, how do I celebrate my pregnancy like baby showers? And we're trying to find alternatives like virtual baby showers," she explained.
"Most women that are pregnant are paranoid anyhow, so this makes them more scared and so they send their husbands out to by the groceries or they get food delivered in," Dr. Luhrs said.
COVID-19 pregnancies look different, but in the end, chances are Dr. Luhrs will have a whole new crop of faces to add to her board.
Ifstudies.org says that literature shows that high mortality events like the COVID-19 pandemic generally reduce births nine months later.