Legacy breaks record with July baby boom

Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center set a record with 363 births at the hospital in July. Although that’s the most births in a month since the hospital opened in 2005, it’s not an outlier as the Salmon Creek hospital’s second-highest number of births came in June, with 330 babies.

“It makes us a very busy family birth unit,” said Kelly Espinoza, the medical center’s interim president.

The hospital typically averages between 285 to 310 births per month, Espinoza explained. That’s generally more than any of the Legacy hospitals in Portland. Espinoza said Salmon Creek probably ends up with more births because there are fewer options in Clark County than Portland.

Spring and summer tend to be the busiest birthing months. Espinoza said that’s generally the case everywhere. July and August are usually the months with the most births nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Espinoza said birth rates around the country are generally dipping, but Legacy Salmon Creek had 3,430 births in 2017, which rose to 3,500 births last year. Espinoza said she thinks this year will eclipse those marks, and likely see the highest volume of births at the hospital ever.

She said Clark County’s growth probably plays a large role in the uptick. Espinoza, who has been with Legacy Salmon Creek for just under four years, said all departments and service lines are seeing higher volumes of patients.

She referenced new family-oriented housing developments in the area and young couples moving back to Clark County to start families as reasons for the hospital’s increased volume. Espinoza said the hospital also sees many return families, those who come back to Legacy to birth subsequent children.

“It’s always nice to see families come back and join us,” she said.