Coronavirus and 7 months pregnant

[Jrobhatch29]

Help.
Im in a complete panic about coronavirus. Im 7 months pregnant and also have a 7 year old and a 4 year old.
Im absolutely terrified of the coronavirus spreading in the uk, to the point I am having constant panic attacks and refreshing the news every 10 mins. Im so scared for my baby and my children.
Am i blowing this totally out of proportion?

[bellinisurge]

I'm sorry you are feeling like this. Please speak to a health professional about this. It's natural that you are worried but it think you are already realising that such a strong level of anxiety is not good for you. Best wishes.

[Stronger76]

Yes you are. In case you missed it, its already here in the UK. Speak to your midwife about your anxiety.

[Mominatrix]

You are more likely to catch seasonal flu - are you petrified of that?

YABU.

[AgentPrentiss]

Yes, please seek some professional help. For your own sanity.

[BecauseReasons]

Yes, you are. But you can take precautions nonetheless. Wash your hands very frequently, try to avoid public transport, stay away from China, Singapore etc...

FWIW, OP, a friend of mine is Chinese and she reckons the UK is deliberately downplaying it and that we don't know enough about it to be as relaxed as we are. So she would say YANBU. All anyone can do is hope for the best.

[BelfastNonBlonde]

Yes I’m sorry I also think you are very much overreacting OP.
You would be better dealing with your anxiety than worrying about catching coronavirus.
I too am 7 months pregnant.

[AuntieStella]

Yes you are.

Could it spread further in UK ? Yes, of course it could.

But what will worrying about that, ahead of it actually happening, ever achieve. Other than wrecking your peace of mind?

Talk to your MW about excessive anxiety - she may be able to signpost support

(I think OP knows it's present in Britain, which is why she said herbworries were about spread 'in' the country, not 'to' it)

[WombOfOnesOwn]

No child under age 9 has died yet. Yabu.

[Jrobhatch29]

I suffer from health anxiety already and already recieving CBT which was helping until coronavirus surfaced.
I feel like im justified in how I feel though after how quickly it is spreading in italy and the high death rate/amount of serious cases. My main worry is hospitals being overwhelmed by may when i have my baby.

[mylittleboo]

If you are that worried could you have a home birth or birthing centre rather than hospital? Just minimise your exposure. Stay away from city centres, swimming pools, softplays etc. Wear a face mask when you go out including the hospital and keep hand sanitiser gel with you. Remember you don’t live in Italy. Are you even anywhere near the current outbreak spots like brighton? How far away are you?

[MJ1979]

Look up Doctor Mike on YouTube - he did a good video about this a few days ago. Maybe having it set out in plain terms would help to put your mind at rest.

[Littlemissdaredevil]

Speak to your midwife about your concerns urgently.

In can’t find the article but I think I read somewhere that 60/70% of deaths are over 65 and 60/70% of deaths are in people with pre-existing medical conditions which would make them more vulnerable. I have not come across any evidence yet that pregnant women or babies are more likely to get a serious case.

I’m 29 weeks pregnant and I will continue to monitor the situation closely but I am not panicking.

[Dennisreynoldsduster]

I’m worried too OP, I have a newborn and it’s making me quite anxious, especially since I feel like it’s being downplayed a fair bit so we don’t panic.
However I’m still not as anxious as you’re describing, it’s more of an ever present concern in the back of my mind, so I agree with previous posters that you should speak to someone. It sounds like excessive anxiety especially since you already suffer, and it makes sense that something like coronavirus would trigger it, especially since it’s an unknown at the moment and we don’t know how to control it. Trying to deal with things out of your control is very difficult with anxiety at the best of times, so I completely understand but do seek help.

[JudyCoolibar]

Do keep reminding yourself that for the vast majority of people who catch it - which is still a tiny proportion of the population - the symptoms are no worse than ordinary flu.

[NewNameEveryWeek]

Kids are very unlikely to die from it. Nobody under 9 has died and of the more than 500 people aged 10-19 who have caught it there has been one death. That's a

[NewNameEveryWeek]

My main worry is hospitals being overwhelmed by may when i have my baby.

The obstetrics department should not be affected, surely?

[Mominatrix]

High death rate? The death rate is 2%, which is more likely to an overestimation rather than underestimation, and the majority of those are in elderly men.

Get a grip.

[Jrobhatch29]

Ive read every article there is to read about how it effects children less severely. I really hope thats true. My paranoid mind tells me we cant really trust the figures x

[BecauseReasons]

Oh, also, I am in the early stages of pregnancy and not thrilled about developments thus far because exposure to some viruses can cause defects in the fetus (Zika, for example) if the mother contracts it in pregnancy, and we don't know enough to say whether or not the same is true for this virus. I don't think it's unreasonable to be concerned. But if it's affecting your life maybe do seek help for your anxiety.

[AnnaMagnani]

My main worry is hospitals being overwhelmed by may when i have my baby

The hospital is not going to have redirected a load of obstetricians, midwives, neonatal nurses and paediatricians to caring for elderly people with coronavirus.

For starters, none of those people would have a clue what they were doing. They are good at delivering babies and looking after mums and newborns. Not so good at looking after adults with pneumonia.

[orangejuicer]

Please relax, this level of anxiety is not good for you or your baby. I am speaking as someone who was overly anxious throughout my pregnancy which stopped me enjoying it and really made things ten times harder.

Do not look at conspiracy theories.

[trixiebelden77]

You need help to manage your anxiety at the moment.

In the meantime keep doing sensible things like practice good hygiene, keep away from people you know are sick etc. I assume you’re already vaccinated against the vaccine-preventable diseases that are currently causing outbreaks around the world such as measles and influenza.

[Dontdisturbmenow]

Stop reading the news. Remember that everything is sensationalised. They care much more about making money than sharing information.

You then need to accept that this is something you can't control. It's life. Things happen in the world that impacts on our life. There is no point letting it affect us so much when we can't change it.

All you can do is what is recommended, so focus on that and let go of the uncontrollable. Enjoy your life in the present rather than ruining the present by focusing on a future that in all likelihood won't happen.

[missyoumuch]

YABU. The statistics should be comforting - it is dangerous for the elderly and ill, but mild for almost everyone else including children. Most children who have caught it show no or very few symptoms. It was the same with SARS 1. I even read of a woman who caught it 9 months pregnant and gave birth, she and the baby are fine and no serious complications at all. The reason there is so much panic is that it is new and it emerged in China right before their main annual holiday, Lunar New Year, which is the peak of travel within and outside of the country.