5 NICU nurses in Chicago suburbs all give birth within one month
OAK LAWN - Amid the pandemic and uncertainty over the past year and a half, there is a joyous story out of suburban Chicago of a group of hardworking NICU nurses all delivering babies within a single month.
The five nurses at Advocate Children's Hospital – Oak Lawn all gathered recently so their newborns could meet one another. The nurses are currently all on maternity leave.
"These Advocate Children’s Hospital – Oak Lawn NICU Nurses have been working their behinds off the past 19 months throughout the pandemic – and got to experience some simultaneous joy when they all delivered babies within 1 month of one another. We love our nurses – and their babies!" a hospital spokesperson said in a statement.
Nurse Rosa and her son Zayan, Nurse Freida and her daughter Aurora, Nurse Angelica and her son Wyatt, Nurse Ashley and her daughter Lainey, and Nurse Christina and her son Benjamin.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden again stressed the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19, saying that the number of unvaccinated Americans remains "unacceptably high" amid measured progress in the vaccination rate in recent weeks.
Biden said America’s vaccination rate has improved since the authorization of Pfizer boosters and sweeping requirements for employers.
"Daily cases are down 47 percent. Hospitalizations are down 38 percent over the past six weeks. Over the past two weeks, most of the country has improved as well," Biden said. "Case rates are declining in 39 states and hospital rates declining in 38 states. We're down to 66 million: Still unacceptably high number of unvaccinated people from almost 100 million in July."
"The plan I laid out in September is working," Biden said. "We’re headed in the right direction. We have critical work to do but we can’t let up now."
Nearly 188 million Americans are now fully vaccinated, or 56.6% of the total U.S. population, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among those currently eligible to receive a vaccine, the figure increases to 66.2%. Of those 65 and older, 84.1% are fully vaccinated and 12.3% in this group have received a booster shot.