first-baby-2024-semba-hall

Pella Regional Health Center’s first baby of 2024 is a little boy, S’emba Hall, born at 11:36 pm on Jan. 1. He weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. His mother is Kelsey Hall from Pella. The delivering doctor was Dr. Cassandra Lanning and Taylor Clendenen, RN, was the labor nurse.

While S’emba is Pella Regional’s first baby in 2024, there were 610 babies delivered at Pella Regional Health Center in 2023, a record for the hospital. The previous high mark was 607 babies born in 2019. There were 317 boys and 293 girls. The heaviest baby was 11 pounds 3 ounces and the longest baby was 22.75 inches.

The most popular names for boys and for girls included:

Boy: Theodore and Grayson/Greyson

Girl: Kinsley/Kinzley, Oaklynn, and Emersyn

“Over half of Iowa’s 99 counties do not have OB units, and eight of those counties are directly in, or adjacent to, areas served by Pella Regional, said Jody Van Veen, Chief Nursing Officer at Pella Regional. “We are thankful to those that have chosen us to entrust their care, and in many cases, driven a distance for obstetrical services. We are proud of having a record-breaking year and recognize it could not have happened without dedicated staff and providers providing high quality, safe, and compassionate care. We continue to invest in care for pregnant women and their families and are looking forward to a new caesarean surgical suite located in the Family Birthing Center in spring 2024.”

Pella Regional’s family of medical clinics offers 10 family practice physicians who also practice obstetrics to serve their growing service area in providing prenatal care, delivery and care of the newborn after delivery. These physicians include Garrett Donaldson, MD, Cassandra Lanning, DO; Lucas Mihalovich, DO; Elizabeth Wooster-Pierson, MD; Anne Hellbusch, DO; Mario Martinez, MD, PhD; Richard Posthuma, MD; Daniel Rowley, MD; Tereasa Van Zee, DO; and Craig Wittenberg, MD.