Remember the 16 pregnant Mesa nurses? All but two have given birth

PHOENIX – Remember the story about a suburban Phoenix hospital with 16 intensive care unit nurses pregnant at the same time?

And then there were two.

Fourteen of the nurses at Mesa’s Banner Desert Medical Center have had healthy babies, according to a hospital spokesman, and the last two are due in February.

The nurses who gave birth – welcoming eight girls and six boys – aren’t doing interviews, but they provided updates in a group statement.

“Our friendships have grown through this experience as our group chat has changed from pregnancy questions to baby questions,” the statement said.

“We have planned get-togethers with the babies already, and plan to have more. It is such a wonderful thing to have support of such great women in this amazing time in our lives.”

The first arrival was a boy born Sept. 15, and the most recent was a girl delivered Sunday.

Banner Health has been using a pool of floating nurses to cover ICU shifts for the moms during their 12 weeks of maternity leave, ensuring that there would be no interruption in care.

Some already are back at work, and the hospital has been making adjustments to accommodate them.

“Our ICU has supported us by creating a pumping-specific room in our unit for working moms who are breastfeeding,” the statement said.

“It’s the little things like that can really make us feel valued and supported back at work.”

The pregnant ICU nurses received global interest and support when their story was publicized in August.

The hospital threw a baby shower and gifted each pregnant nurse with a one-piece romper that says “Relax … my mom is a Banner nurse!”

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