Woman’s Hospital recently rolled out the red—or rather, pink, carpet—for its 400,000th baby.
Baby Blair made her highly awaited arrival early in the morning on Saturday, March 15, weighing 5 pounds, 14 ounces, and measuring a little over 19 inches long. The historic birth marks a major milestone in the hospital’s more than 56 years of service and is the highlight of its Labor of Love campaign, which launched ahead of the event with a baby counter, billboards, ads and a website with an interactive map showing where babies born at Woman’s are now located.
“Even though she is our 400,000th baby, Blair will always be No. 1 to you and your family,” Woman’s Hospital President and CEO Rene Ragas said to Blair’s parents during a press conference on Monday.
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In the days leading up to Baby Blair’s birthday, the hospital was abuzz with excitement. Staff voted on whether the 400,000th baby would be a boy or a girl and took guesses on how much he or she would weigh and measure. Outside the cafeteria, marquee letters and numbers spelling out “WH 400K” were illuminated and framed by pink and blue balloons for photo ops.
Baby Blair was delivered by Dr. Rebecca Boudreaux, who also delivered the first baby at Woman’s current campus. Boudreaux was honored with a plaque that reads: “In recognition of delivering the 400,000th baby, we are so proud of you.” Team members who contributed to the delivery also received certificates to remember the occasion.
“She’s gorgeous. I only deliver beautiful babies,” Boudreaux said during the press conference, referring to Baby Blair. “A few people—since I found out that I was the one who delivered the 400,000th baby—asked me ‘What did it feel like?’ And the first, and really only, word that comes to my mind is ‘proud.’ I am proud to be a part of a health care system that delivered such fantastic care to now women all over the country, not just in our community.”
At the press conference, the new parents received gifts like a car seat, breast pump, teddy bears and more valued at more than $2,000, donated by the Foundation for Woman’s and community members.
During the Labor of Love campaign, the hospital’s interactive map received over 930 submissions from people across the country and beyond who were born at Woman’s. Each time an entry came in from a new state, it was marked pink on the map. The U.S. map is now completely pink, showing babies born at Woman’s are now living in all 50 states—and even as far away as Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. A baby counter was also updated for each birth, so the community could anticipate the special number. As of Wednesday morning, it stood at 400,079 births, with an average of 20-23 babies delivered per day at the hospital.
“Our Labor of Love campaign has been so much fun,” Chief Nursing Officer Cheri Johnson said during the press conference. “Here are a few fun facts we learned throughout this campaign: More babies are born in the month of December than any other month. We deliver more boys than girls. We have delivered more than 2,200 sets of twins, more than 69 triplets and even some quadruplets in there.”
Besides Baby Blair, another special guest at the press conference was Marguerite Scardina, the first baby born at Woman’s Hospital when it opened its doors back in 1968. Though she doesn’t remember making her arrival, she tells 225 that the hospital opened its doors to her parents at 6:45 a.m. that morning.
Over the years, Scardina has attended plenty of milestones at the hospital, from the groundbreaking of its current campus to Monday’s announcement event. She delivered her own children at Woman’s and is still a patient there. And when she had her son, she even had the same nurse who helped her mother deliver back in 1968.
“It’s a privilege. And it’s really fascinating that it’s not just ‘You’re the first baby,’ it’s an honor,” Scardina says. “It’s definitely a place to be proud of. … I’m treated the same, no matter what.”
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Johnson agrees.
“What I think is special about Woman’s is that we focus on each individual woman,” she says. “That’s why we named it Woman’s and not Women’s. We’re not looking at just women. We’re looking at you specifically. And I think that’s really helped us grow this much and have this big milestone, because we really want to individualize your care based on your needs.”
Baby Blair and Scardina might be special milestones for the hospital—but just like all patients, they’re more than just a number.