Baby Boom, 9 Months After Charley
There's a baby boom in Florida, nine months after Hurricane Charley hit.
The number of births is up significantly at several Sunshine State hospitals.
At Florida Hospital - Orlando alone, births are up 24 percent from a year ago.
Dr. Ashley Hill delivers babies there, and
The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler, "Well, we have seen a very significant increase in the volume of deliveries down here, to the point that we've actually had to station two attending full-time senior doctors in the hospital for the first time ever at the same time. It's been a little bit crazy…but it's very exciting."The maternity ward has also added nurses, he says.
New mom Colleen Mol, who held her 7 pound, 14 ounce bundle of joy, Lucas, as she spoke with Syler from the hospital nursery, explained that, during Charley and his aftermath, "We were out of power for at least a week or two. So there's not a lot to do around the house."
Hill told Syler of another patient who had electricity, but wound up conceiving around the time of Charley for another reason: "Two years ago, during a hurricane season where one of the hurricanes just missed us, her husband went out and bought a big generator. And this thing sat in the garage for two years. And every morning, this nice lady would trip over the thing coming out to her car to go to work. And every morning, she would complain to her husband that the darned generator was in the way.
"Well, about three days into the power outage from Hurricane Charley, she looked at her husband and had a fan going, refrigerator going, cool drinks. And she said, 'You know, honey, you're the man!' Several months later, they have a baby."