101 babies delivered

St. Mary's Hospital hits a milestone

October 1, 2016 at 3:44 a.m. | Updated October 2, 2016 at 5:58 a.m.

by Brittany Hilderbrand

New mother Christina Roling holds her daughter Hallie Elizabeth Roling on Friday at St. Mary's Hospital. Hallie was the 101st baby at the hospital. Last year, the hospital averaged 1,013 babies born throughout the year, and last year 80 babies were born in September. "This has been the first time this year that this many babies in one month have been delivered," said Janet Wear-Enloe, director of business development and marketing at St. Mary's.
New mother Christina Roling holds her daughter Hallie Elizabeth Roling on Friday at St. Mary's Hospital. Hallie was the 101st baby at the hospital. Last year, the hospital averaged 1,013 babies born throughout the year, and last year 80 babies were born in September. "This has been the first time this year that this many babies in one month have been delivered," said Janet Wear-Enloe, director of business development and marketing at St. Mary's.

Two moms on Friday inadvertently helped St. Mary's Hospital hit a major milestone - delivering 101 babies during September.

"This has been the first time this year that this many babies in one month have been delivered," said Janet Wear-Enloe, director of business development and marketing at St. Mary's. "Hitting this milestone is pretty exciting."

While not record-setting in itself, the milestone comes after last year's 1,013 deliveries for 2015, the most in 12 years. Last September, 80 babies were born at St. Mary's

The parents of yesterday's 100th newborn had no idea they played a role in hitting the milestone. Ashley and Chad Geritz were just happy to welcome their little girl into the world.

"Once it was time to go, everything went fairly quickly," Ashley Geritz said. "Dr. (Jodi) Berendzen was wonderful and very reassuring, which helped me not to be so nervous."

Landree Geritz was born at 10:27 a.m. Friday, and all 7 pounds and 5 ounces of her will hold the title of the 100th baby born at St. Mary's in September 2016 - a significant milestone for the hospital, that is until Hallie Elizabeth entered the world less than an hour later.

Christina and Jake Roling welcomed their daughter Hallie Elizabeth Roling at 11:20 a.m., making baby number 101 for the month in St. Mary's books.

"Everyone made us feel very comfortable," Christina Roling said. "I chose St. Mary's because I heard Dr. Berendez was a really great doctor, and she made me feel like I knew what I was doing. She was a great coach."

Roling said she also was born at St. Mary's.

Leslie Charlton, nurse manager at St. Mary's, said she is proud of quality service the hospital provides to its patients.

Charlton emphasized "the staff works their tails off to make sure the babies are delivered safely and to make sure the moms leave knowing they've had the best birth experience they can possibly have."

Correction, posted at 12:57 a.m. Oct. 2, 2016: Dr. Jodi Berendzen's name was misspelled in the original version of this article. The error has since been corrected in the text above.

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