Nursing baby boom: Nurses at Missouri hospital expecting 36 babies in 2019

The staff at one Missouri hospital have heard plenty of jokes asking what's in the water -- that's because 36 of their nurses are expecting babies over the course of 2019.

"Even the parents of the families of our patients -- they'll walk around and say 'Do you have to be pregnant to work here? Is that a requirement?' And then they joke about not drinking the water," nurse Julie Lang told KMBC.

The nurses at Children's Mercy in Kansas City celebrated their recent and upcoming little bundles of joy with a photo of all the new moms and moms-to-be. They got as many of them together as they could and digitally added the five who couldn't make it. The women held up signs showing their baby's birthday or due date.

One of the moms said she went into labor just hours after the photo was taken.

Children's Mercy wrote that of the babies born so far, 18 are boys and just two are girls.

"We've never done this before, but we can only assume it's a record," Lang said, laughing.

She said that management has done a great job figuring out the staffing situation, and she said the experience has made them all better at their jobs.

"After having a baby, I think we're so much more empathetic," she said, "and we can connect a little bit more with the moms and dads here."

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