Norwood Hospital Crowded; Baby Sleeps in Drawer-This Day In Norwood History-February 27, 1947

NORWOOD, Feb. 27—A newborn baby had to be placed in a bureau drawer, and three others in incubators instead of bassinets because of overcrowded conditions at Norwood Hospital, its administrator, Robert Brown, disclosed here tonight.

The stork, he said, has been doing a rushing business, bringing more new arrivals than the hospital has places to put them. The institution recorded more than twice as many births in the first 26 days of February this year than in the same period last year.

In a maternity ward equipped to handle 31 mothers and 31 children, there are now 40 mothers and 39 babies, while in the entire hospital with a normal capacity of 130 patients there are now 167, he said.

Babies placed in the incubators and the bureau drawer were later put in bassinettes when other babies were discharged, the night superintendent said late tonight.

Drive For Funds Planned

Brown said that by turning private rooms into semi-private and placing extra beds in all wards, the hospital had been able to care for all emergency cases, but he added that if the emergency cases increase, it would be at a loss as to how to accommodate them.

Plans are underway for a drive for funds to build an addition to the hospital, which receives patients from Canton, Westwood, Walpole and Dedham as well as Norwood.

Fri, Feb 28, 1947 – The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts)