U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq to cause baby boom

Fort Campbell is getting ready for its next baby boom following the return of thousands of soldiers to the Army post after deployment in Iraq.

Photo: U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq to cause baby boom

The surge in deliveries, which is expected to peak to 250 in June from a current level of about a dozen per day, will come about nine months after 20,000 soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division returned from a yearlong deployment.

Blanchfield Army Community Hospital is currently receiving nearly a dozen new expecting mothers each day.

The projected boom will shatter the hospital's previous record of 202 in October 2004, reports AP.

"We knew there would be a surge," said Lt. Col. Diane Adams, doctor of osteopathic medicine and chief of women's health at the Army hospital, told The Leaf-Chronicle."We just didn't anticipate such a large one. It's kind of a surprise."

Adams said other nearby hospitals have committed to help with the expected surge in births.