Pregnancy is not contagious, except when it sort of is.
Nine nurses at a hospital in Maine were pregnant at the same time, and all of their due dates were between April and July of 2019. If that's a little hard to believe, that's OK, because there are photos of eight of them together with their baby bumps, and it's very real (and surreal).
The nurses all work in the labor and delivery unit, which is maybe where they caught the baby fever. They've been enjoying their shared pregnancy experience so far.
"It's really nice coming to work and seeing other people who are just as pregnant and watching their bellies pop and just talking about these experiences that we are going through together," nurse Amanda Spear told WMTW.
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Although you can't "catch" pregnancy, research shows that the decision to become pregnant is influenced by social networks. In other words, people are more likely to go ahead and have a baby if a lot of women around them are doing the same.
Nine, though! That's over 10% of the nurses in the unit, but don't worry, the hospital has a plan.
Any pregnant people in your life these days? Maybe one or two? OK, imagine having nine.
Nine nurses who work at the labor and delivery unit at Maine Medical Center are expecting babies, and their due dates are all within three months of each other.
The nurses say it's been great to be pregnant at the same time.
"I feel like every other day we would come into work and it would be like, 'someone else is pregnant,'" nurse Amanda Spear told News Center Maine.
But the pregnancy announcements really never got old.
"After each one of us started to say, 'We're pregnant,' I think it was a happier announcement each time, and we're all there for each other," nurse Erin Grenier told WMTW.
Nurse Samantha Giglio agreed. "It was more exciting each time seeing who else was pregnant," she told News Center Maine.
Being pregnant at work can be tough, but having eight other women who totally get what you're going through definitely helps.
"It's really nice coming to work and seeing other people who are just as pregnant and watching their bellies pop and just talking about these experiences that we are going through together," Amanda said to WMTW.
Many of the women are expecting their first children, too. Samatha is expecting her second.
"It's comforting knowing we'll be taking care of each other," she said to New Center Maine.
They plan to be there for each other's deliveries, though that may get a little tricky since some of them will happen around the same time!
Given that they work in the labor and delivery unit, though, they're definitely prepared for this.
Some bosses might cringe at the idea of nine employees getting pregnant at the same time. Buh-bye, workforce!
But the hospital has a plan in place to cover all of the women when they take their maternity leave. There are 80 registered nurses who currently work in the labor and delivery unit.
Eight of the nine nurses gathered together for a photo of their baby bumps and due dates written on cards. One woman held two due dates, not because she's having twins, but for the absent woman.
The nine nurses all work different shifts, so it's amazing that they were able to pull the photo off in the first place. The post took off and now has over 2,000 shares on Facebook.
"All of a sudden it was at 50 likes, and we went to bed because we work the night shift," recalled Brittney Verville, who posted the photo. "When we woke up we're like, 'oh my gosh I think we're viral.'"
Many of the commenters were wondering the same thing — who's gonna cover all those shifts?!
But the hospital reassured patients that there are plenty of nonpregnant nurses to pick up the slack.
Congratulations times nine to all these hardworking nurses!
