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Originally Posted by mylesmalley
Odd that Fredericton and Saint John are basically tied here. Does the Chalmers have a bigger catchment area? Wouldn't Saint John get everything from St Stephen to Sussex?
Curious how many that would otherwise be born in New Brunswick happen at the IWK.
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I would expect Saint John to have a larger catchment yes, especially since the URVH in Waterville has a birthing unit. I think the main difference here is that Saint John likely has an older demographic than Freddy, with fewer women of childbearing age. This is the main reason why the birthrate in Alberta is so much higher than in the rest of Canada - the population is younger.
Moncton has a younger demographic as well. I don't have the precise figures at hand, but the median age in Moncton is almost identical to the national median age (which is pretty good for the Maritimes).
As for how many NB births happen at the IWK, I would posit very few. Both the Moncton Hospital and the SJRH have NNICUs and neonatalologists as well as maternal fetal medicine specialists. Only the most high risk pregnancies would be shipped off to the IWK.