It's a record-breaking year for the baby-delivery folks at Tucson Medical Center.
Ava Jane Spalding was baby number 6,477 when she was born at TMC at 8:25 Wednesday morning.
The hospital expects to reach at least the 6,600 mark by year's end — a 10 percent increase over the 6,026 babies born at TMC last year.
"I guess we had a little bit of a clue when we started setting records for the different months during the year," said TMC spokesman Mike Letson. "August was the busiest month we've ever had. We had 655 deliveries. That's a lot. And of course we have a fair number of repeat customers. They're not all new families."
TMC's maternity service is used to being busy, Letson said, "but not this busy. There are no quiet times anymore."
University Medical Center, attached to the University of Arizona College of Medicine, is not having a busier time this year. UMC has delivered about 2,200 babies so far this year — the same as this time last year, said spokeswoman Katie Riley.
People are also reading…
Carondelet Health Network's St. Joseph's Hospital delivered 2,373 babies through November, said Beth Gault, an aide to hospital administrators. That's about 70 babies more than in the first 11 months of 2005, Gault said.
A Northwest Medical Center spokeswoman was unable to get birth numbers on Friday afternoon, after workers left for the Christmas weekend.
