More babies born is a sign of the times

My first front-pager!

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

Births at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County increased 15 percent from 2006 to 2007, mirroring a similar increase nationwide.

Nursing manager Dawn Dingman said the hospital’s obstetrics department had a year-end tally of 136 births in 2007 compared to 118 the year before.

The growth seems to adhere to the report that the U.S. “seems to be experiencing a baby boomlet, reporting the largest number of children born in 45 years,” according to The Associated Press.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Carbon County’s population dropped 2 percent between 2000 and 2006. According to the numbers recorded at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County for the same time span, births also decreased, at a similar rate of 4 percent.
The question remains as to whether the increased births may equal population growth in Carbon County.

When asked about the possible correlation, officials shrugged their shoulders. They identified with national demographers who say it is too soon to know if the increase is the start of a trend.

“We have to wait and see,” said Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistician Brady Hamilton. “For now, I would call it a noticeable blip.”

Wendy Thorvaldson, the hospital’s intensive care unit nursing manager, said “The numbers (in the obstetrics department) have grown and they’ve been really busy, but I can’t answer why.”
Rawlins City Manager Dave Derragon theorized that the county’s population is increasing, but for different reasons.

“In the last four to five years, (the city has installed) between 300 and 350 new utility hookups,” he said. “My basic theory is that there must be more people at least equal to the number of utility hookups, especially since we haven’t torn that many down.”

He did not have any speculation about whether more births directly corresponded to increased permanent population.

Dr. Wayne Couch estimates that the growth in the number of births is related to the appearance of temporary workers. Many of the women he saw last year were associated with temporary workers. However, he expects the numbers seen in 2007 to taper off.

“Predicting the future is always impossible,” he said. “But my best guess tells me that (the births are) not going to go down. I’d expect to see about the same this year as in 2007. I think it’s elevated some and you’ll see those numbers remain steady throughout the next year and maybe for the next two to three years.”

Derragon raised the question of when residents are considered permanent and can therefore officially be incorporated in the county’s population. “If these workers are here for two or three years, is that still temporary?” He mentioned that the U.S. Census Bureau has strict regulations on when the switch from temporary to permanent resident occurs.

Dingman said she is unsure of how the temporary workers have affected births at the hospital.
She said overall inpatient numbers at the hospital have gone down, but she attributes that to insurance companies striving for more outpatient operations rather than population trends.
Staff at Couch’s clinic and at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County have not felt taxed with the increase in births. “We’ve worked to accommodate the increase in patients that need to be seen,” Couch said.