More than 400 children will be able to grow up and say they were born in the height of a global pandemic.
In March there were 453 babies born across Vancouver Island.
The Victoria General Hospital saw 228 births.
READ ALSO: Nanaimo, Royal Jubilee to be Vancouver Island’s COVID-19 frontline hospitals
Cowichan District Hospital welcomed 34 new babies, Lady Minto Hospital saw one new birth and the Nanaimo Regional Hospital — the other frontline hospital for COVID-19 patients — saw 90 births.
READ ALSO: Pregnant in a pandemic: expectant mothers change birth plans due to COVID-19
Up Island, the North Island Hospital in Comox Valley saw 51 births while the North Island Hospital in Campbell River saw 33. Port McNeil Hospital saw two new babies come into the world and the West Coast General hospital saw 14 births.
Since March 16, Island Health has changed its hospital policies to only allow one guest in the delivery room which has led to expecting mothers changing their birthing plans. Doulas are not provincially or federally recognized as health practitioners, and so expectant mothers will have to choose between their partners, their doula and anyone else they’d planned on having in the room.
— With files from Nicole Crescenzi
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