New London — Naturally, an air of expectancy pervades the Labor, Delivery, Recovery and Post-partum unit at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital. No surprise there.

But would you expect five registered nurses and a midwife working on the unit to be pregnant at the same time? 

In fact, up until five weeks ago, a sixth RN, Lauren LaRico of Ashaway, R.I., was with child, too. Then she had her baby — Violet.

“We kind of spread out the delivery times,” said Jessica Sionni, an RN from West Warwick, R.I.

Upcoming delivery dates range from January to May. Except for Sionni, all of the expectant mothers know their baby’s gender. Three girls and three boys.

Kristen Fulton, an RN from Niantic, was the first of the group to realize she was pregnant. “They just kept coming and coming,” she said of the pregnancies that followed.

Joining LaRico, Sionni and Fulton for an early-morning photo session last week were RNs Anna Wirth of Norwich and Alyssa Dyke of Uncasville and midwife Kathalina Fabian-Fontenot of North Stonington. The fifth pregnant nurse, who asked not to be named, passed up the session.

LaRico held Violet, who soundly slept through it all.

So what were the chances of so many pregnancies occurring at the same time, given that a total of 44 RNs staff the ward?

Jessica Maksim, an RN who works on the unit as a lactation consultant, remembered that this sort of thing has happened at L+M before.

“When I was pregnant seven years ago, we had five pregnancies at the same time in Labor & Delivery,” she said. “It created a similar buzz, with a group photo ... It’s extra special because it’s maternity. It’s exciting because it’s your co-workers. We all get to share the pregnancy experience together.’”

Later, Maksim reported that another member of the Labor & Delivery staff is pregnant. Taylor Celico of Pawcatuck, a surgical tech whose duties include assisting with cesarean deliveries, is expecting a boy in late March.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com