Three Canada goose eggs that were laid outside near Royal Inland Hospital’s labour and delivery unit hatched over the weekend, with staff welcoming the trio of goslings into the world.
According to Interior Health, ward nurses and hospital employees set up a video baby monitor to watch the expectant bird mother — named Mother Goose — and her eggs, which were laid under a windowsill at the Kamloops hospital earlier this spring.
An Interior Health spokesperson said the eggs hatched early Sunday morning, with the young goslings becoming more active as the day went on.
"The labour and delivery room nurses rang the birth chimes three times so the whole hospital knew they were born," the spokesperson said.
Although the babies initially struggled to get off the ledge where the nest was located, RIH staff helped the bird family get to a safe grassy area.
"All three goslings landed successfully, one on a roadway and two in in a deep cement area where they couldn't get out. It was a hard landing for all three, but somehow they survived," the spokesperson said.
Interior Health said the mother goose settled the lone gosling against a curb and went to retrieve the other two, but the baby got scared while waiting for its mother to return and began running down the roadway.
RIH staff picked up the gosling and reunited it with the mother and its two siblings. Once Mother Goose calmed down, staff were able to gather all the babies in a box to help them get to a safe place.
"The mother flew out and landed a few feet up the road. She seemed to know the crew was helping her," the Interior Health spokesperson said.
Once the babies were let out of the box, Mother Goose took over, bringing her babies towards a grassy area beside the hospital. IH said some staff walked nearby to ensure the bird family wasn't disturbed by traffic.
"When mother and goslings were safely into the grass on the hillside, we left her to take her babies to water," the IH spokesperson said.
The health authority said the nest was first spotted by a hospital maintenance worker on March 31. Labour and delivery unit staff were enamoured with the little goose family and have watched over Mother Goose ever since.
IH said the team reached out to a bird sanctuary in Burnaby as well as the B.C. Wildlife Park to ensure they did everything right for Mother Goose.
