Babies On Board: Marathon Sutter Move Coincides With Baby Boom

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – It's been a marathon for Sutter Memorial Hospital, but everyone's finally resting now. The new facility for women and children is finally occupied.

It took three years of careful planning to pull off the move. Everything worked out as planned, except for one thing: a mini baby boom.

Even past her due date, Ellen Empter was in labor for three days until doctors finally opted to deliver her daughter via C-section.

But eight-pound Bristol arrived just in time for a mini-baby boom at Sacramento's newest baby hospital.

RELATED: Sutter Hospital Planning To Move Everything, Including Patients, In 24 Hours

"Babies being born like all over the place, basically," Empter said.

Nine babies were born in less than six hours overnight in the middle of a chaotic move-out day for Sutter Memorial.

"There was basically a nurse for every single baby and they put them all in their own incubator," Empter said.

More than 160 patients moved out of the old facility in East Sacramento and into the new, ten story state-of-the-art building.

A fleet of ambulances on the go, a team of nurses dressed as movers, one patient to an ambulance, ten patients dropped off every hour – the entire move mission accomplished in less than twenty four hours.

"The quality of care has not changed," said new mother Wendy Bradley.

For Bradley, the best feature is her own room with her newborn triplets.

"With potential health risks, it's peace of mind that, you know, is just priceless," Bradley said.

All the rooms here are private. And unlike most hospitals, babies don't have to spend a minute in the nursery room.

The Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center prides itself on being a baby-friendly hospital.

"It's a nice big nursery, but babies belong in their rooms with their mothers," said nurse Andrea Brizendeine.

Especially when holding your healthy baby is all that really matters.

"I'm so glad you're sleeping now," Empter said to her newborn.

Turns out, a mini baby boom this time of year isn't that rare. The month of August has the highest number of births, on average.