Nashville birth rate growing as national rate hits lows – NewsChannel5.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A new study shows Nashville area’s birth rate is growing, even as the national birth rate has hit its lowest level since the 1980s.

The study was published by Doximity , and says the Nashville Metropolitan Area’s birth rate has increased by one percent. The only other Top 50 Metropolitan Area with an increasing birthrate was Orlando, Florida. Earlier this year, the CDC announced the United States birth rate had hit its lowest point since 1986.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Vanderbilt University Medical Center OB-GYN Josh Kellett said. “We’ve seen a steady incline in the number of pregnant women seeking care.”

That incline has even changed how VUMC cares for expecting mothers.

“We’ve really had to change the model of care, at least at Vanderbilt, to a team approach to care, where we require more than one person to take care of one person,” Kellett explained. “We’ve been doing this approach now for almost two years, and the main reason was as the volume began to increase, we needed to change the model.”

Kellett said he thinks the baby boom is because of the number of young adults moving to the mid-state.