Getting along with co-workers can make your job more pleasant. Typically, colleagues might connect with one another because of their shared experiences at work. Nurses at Olathe Medical Center have another topic to talk about though: pregnancy (and it's not just because they work in labor and delivery).
More than a dozen co-workers at Olathe Medical Center, which is part of the University of Kansas Health System, are pregnant at the same time. The 16 pregnant co-workers all work at The Birth Place, which is the medical center's labor and delivery unit.
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Lots of people have noticed.
Tabitha Cross, a registered nurse at the medical center, told FOX4 that for some time, it felt like someone was making a pregnancy announcement every time she went to work.
Patients began noticing as well. “I’ve had a handful of patients recently be like, ‘All of you guys are pregnant. Aren’t you?’” Tabitha told the outlet. "And I’m like, ‘Yeah, a lot of us are.’ It seems like everyone that comes in the room is either expecting or just had a baby.”
Another nurse, Bethany Walters, has had a similar experience, per Good Morning America. When patients see her, they often say something like, “You too?”
Patients might feel more comfortable.
The co-workers who are all pregnant at the same time can relate to each other, but Tabitha shared that the phenomenon has also had a positive impact on patient care. Tabitha told FOX4 that patients seem to be more comfortable asking questions after seeing so many pregnant staff members.
“They seem to get a good laugh out of it or kind of ask questions that maybe they wouldn’t have felt comfortable asking, or felt like they could get a relatable answer from,” Tabitha told the outlet.
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It's been a great bonding experience for staff members.
In addition to having shared experiences at work, staff members working in the medical center's labor and delivery unit are able to swap stories and connect with one another as they navigate pregnancy at the same time.
Tabitha told FOX4 that the experience is “really cool” because “you experience the same things and get to talk about how you feel.” Because of this, they don't have to feel like they're dealing with these things alone — they have lots of co-workers who get it.
The staff members are great friends.
Bethany said in a video that many of the staff members who are expecting or who have recently given birth are “really great friends outside of work too,” per Good Morning America.
Some co-workers who have already welcomed their children organize playdates outside of work. Senior Director of Nursing Annette Osbern told FOX4 that she has enjoyed “seeing [the co-workers] grow together as friends too.”
Is pregnancy contagious?
Other workplaces have made the news for having lots of employees pregnant at the same time. When it happens, many joke about there being something in the water. These “baby booms” at work might not be a coincidence exactly, but there's no medical explanation for it, per Good Morning America.
One study from the University of Cologne suggests that people who work with individuals who are pregnant are more likely to become pregnant themselves, but the researchers attributed this to “social learning.”
In other words, seeing co-workers who are pregnant, talking to them about it, and learning through their experiences might have an impact on other co-workers' decisions to start a family.
