What is happening during pandemic

[crazybutkind]

Good Morning,

I am 28 weeks pregnant and beginning to think about what will happen during birth in the pandemic.

Looking for some answers from ladies who have given birth in the last 2 weeks.

The realisation that I am going to be alone during birth is setting in.

I am being told...
"husbands are not allowed in"
"They make dad leave after 30 mins of birth"
"If you have a runny nose you will be separated from baby for 2 weeks"
"They are not allowed to give gas and air"

The list goes on,

So I ask for some real truths from new mums themselves preferably in the UK.

Please share your stories and experiences as scary as they are I need some straight honest answers

Thankyou x

I had my baby on the 17th March just when things where really starting to kick off.
When I first called triage, they asked if I had any symptoms and that was it.
Husband was allowed in to the birth unit while I was checked over and then taken to a birthing room.
The poor midwives were a little confused about whether he could stay overnight or what time he could come back in the morning but the advice was constantly changing so nobody really knew what was going on 🤷🏼‍♀️
In the end, he went home at 11pm (I had the baby at 6.40pm) and then he was back in the morning to collect me and baby once we were discharged.

I wasn't restricted on what pain relief I could have, although there was no time in the end for anything other than gas and air.

A runny nose is not a symptom of covid19?

I think you should contact your midwife team if possible with these questions. It seems each county and hospital have slightly different protocols in place so someone on here may have a completely different experience to you x

Thankyou so much. I have a midwife appointment Monday so I will be full of questions then. I agree with the runny nose statement but it was just one of the comments I had heard. A lot of people recently have said "my cousin had a baby the other day" or "my friends sister had a baby the other day" I don't actually have anyone's own experience.

From St George’s London

Sounds like if your having a section partner not allowed in.

Starting from 26th March 2020: for the duration of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) alert St George’s Maternity Services will be restricting visitors to ONLY ONE BIRTH PARTNER IN LABOUR AND NO-ONE, NOT EVEN THE PARTNER, WILL BE ADMITTED TO THE ANTENATAL OR POSTNATAL WARDS to minimise risk to babies, new mothers and staff.

Translation and special needs services for women are available by phone. Translators and essential support that need to physically attend the hospital to accompany mothers will still be allowed, but will be assessed on the individual’s needs, such as impaired hearing. No partners will be permitted to enter the theatres.

As such, from today we will be alerting women who come into hospital with their partner to give birth that they bring everything they and their baby need for their entire stay, including after the birth. No further visitors or items will be allowed into the postnatal ward at any time.

THEREFORE ANY BIRTH PARTNERS WHO LEAVE THE DELIVERY SUITE WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO RE-ENTER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

Please note: the Lanesborough entrance is now closed and will only be accessible by buzzer to labouring women who are unable to walk from the main Grosvenor Wing entrance.

I had my baby six days ago and this was how it went for me:
When I first went to the hospital I had to go in to be checked alone.
Once I was determined to be in established labour and put in a delivery suite my husband was allowed to join me, this was about 11am.
My labour progressed quite quickly and baby was born at 2:29pm.
I had gas and air.
I had to have stitches following delivery, which took about 45 mins.
Had something to eat and drink about 5pm and then the midwife allowed us to stay in the delivery suite until about half 8 because my husband would not be allowed on the ward.
Moved over to maternity ward as my husband left and then was on the ward until 5pm the following day. When I left, my husband had to come to the door to the maternity ward to collect me, the midwife helped me carry my bags to the door.

I had asked my midwife earlier that week about what would happen if I had any symptoms/if I was self-isolating and she said the care would have been largely the same except the midwife would have worn ppe and didn't mention anything about separating mum and baby after!

Thank you for the real life 'story.' Hope you are enjoying being safe and sound at home with your new baby. I'm seeing lots of scary things on Facebook etc at the moment and it's making me sick with worry, especially re birth partners. I was due yesterday. The community midwife I saw this week was very unhelpful unfortunately and very dismissive when I tried to ask any questions and just kept telling me how terrified the staff are. Luckily I have a friend whose sister is a midwife on the actual wards and she was brilliant to talk to and very reassuring and I've heard that the midwives and nurses are doing everything they can to help make mums feel less anxious as possible. Our old NCT teacher is posting updates from our hospital to Facebook but it seems to get worse each day and she starts every post with 'sadly' or puts a sad face so I don't find this particularly helpful either

Instead of reading rumours and asking for more rumours, have a look on the website of your hospital trust - there should be a section there on maternity, telling you what's actually happening in your area.

hilda it's not looking for rumours. There's been a huge petition circling today that's pretty difficult to avoid saying no woman should birth alone. The information from the hospitals is changing daily because the situation is evolving daily. Our hospital has just announced that as of Monday no parents are allowed in NICU. It's a terrifying time for any woman about to give birth. Hearing of positive birth stories in the midst of this helps to allay some fears. Please respect that this is a very anxious time for pregnant ladies, your comments aren't helpful

Did the hospital announce baby's to be separated from mum if she has a runny nose that is terrifying for me to read my c section is next week .

I have tried to find information on my trysts website but it only states what happens if you have Coronavirus or suspected. I will ask lots of questions at my appointment on Monday and hopefully get some answers

frillseeking I'm 33 weeks pregnant myself... my point is that it's more helpful to find out what's actually happening in your area, than by asking random people. OP said she was hearing stories from people saying things like "my cousins friend had a baby and they told her..." etc - you're more likely to be misinformed and stressed by that kind of thing. Just saw her update and I think OP is doing the right thing by asking her midwife team, otherwise she'll get different answers from people on here depending on where everyone lives and what each hospital is doing.

I found before I went into labour it was hard to get anyone to give me any idea of what might happen (presumably because the information is updated daily).

I did find that once I rang the birthing unit to say I was in labour, the ladies were all really helpful in giving me information about what would happen when we got to the hospital. It was scary having to leave my husband at the door while I had the initial checks but they were really good in quickly getting him once I'd been moved over to the delivery suite.

It's a scary time for anyone to have a baby, luckily we're now safe at home and whilst we would have been relatively isolated anyway it's been particularly difficult having no visitors at all the past week!

Thankyou so much. Can I ask @LunaNova did your husband wait at the door? How long after birth did you go home? X

@crazybutkind he did wait at the door during my initial checks with the hospital bags, we were probably apart for 10 minutes max before I was moved to the delivery suite, I was in established labour through and they did say that if I wanted to stay and wasn't in established labour they wouldn't have been able to let him in until I was.

I gave birth Sunday afternoon and came home on Monday at about 5pm, I should have been discharged sooner but I was having some issues with establishing breastfeeding and wanted to speak with the feeding team before going home.

Just wanted to add to this thread as I spoke to my private midwife today. She said there had been concerns about gas and air but that’s been given the all clear so no reason that shouldn’t be available as usual. Home births with private midwives are still going ahead but no ambulance transfer to hospital unless life threatening emergency, midwives can take women in the car with them instead. Antenatal appointments on some cases are being cut down to half the usual frequency. Private midwives are currently not being allowed into hospitals, women are having to choose between midwife or birth partner. There are a couple of exceptions eg Kettering and another think it was Northhants.

Hope this helps.

Hospital seem to be tweaking policies / I was really relieved that St George’s (referenced above) now is allowing partners into theatre do there is a very high chance of having someone you know with you. The wards though are remaining women/mothers + baby only and that’s probably got benefits over and above infection control 😍

I'm due in 2 weeks and the trust have been really good at giving information. They have said no visitors but they count mum and birth partner as one unit, so as long as birth partner doesn't leave and doesn't have any symptoms, then they can stay. Also, interestingly, they have said they are now actively encouraging low risk women to consider a home birth. You really need to find out what your actual hospital are doing and don't listen to rumours. Particularly about not having a birth partner. Ours are allowed in for active labour. Good luck and don't stress about it. The rules change daily and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change it.

I had a c section yesterday. Husband allowed into delivery room whilst being prepped and then also in theatre and recovery. No visitors on post natal ward including partners. Its a shame he couldn't be here but fantastic that he got to see his son being born and have a cuddle before going.

And on the plus side the post natal ward is unbelievably chilled with just mums, babies and staff!

Oh, this is Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

I had my elcs on 24 march - day after Johnson's 'lockdown' announcement. DH was in the delivery room. Everything was really calm and everyone was so chilled - they're the NHS staff who get to cut babies out of stomachs which must be pretty amazing! DH was there on post recovery feeding me toast, then we went down to post natal. We agreed that he'd go home to be with DS1, on the caveat that he'd be back first thing in the morning. Just as he'd left the midwife said they had just changed the rules and partners weren't being allowed into post natal from 7 the next day. Right thought I, and asked for help out of bed six hours after birth. Was allowed home late the next afternoon thank god. Midwife helped me down to reception and DH was waiting for me. DS1 got the biggest hug when i got home!

You need to ask you midwife. The hospital I gave birth in only has private rooms. They say only one birth partner and you can’t swap over with another one, no birth partner until 4cm dilated - active labour but birth partner will be with you through out labour and will go with you to your postnatal ward. No visitors to postnatal ward. They say they can’t see this changing.

Here's the RCOG guidance. It's being updated very regularly as things change. Ask your midwife if there is any publications particular to your trust/hospital.

I know it's really hard, but whatever is happening now, things are changing very rapidly so try not to get hung up on what's happening until you're closer to being due.

https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/coronavirus-pregnancy/covid-19-virus-infection-and-pregnancy/?utmsource=Royal%20College%20of%20Obstetricians%20and%20Gynaecologists&utmmmedium=email&utmcampaign=113819288Coronavirus%20guidance%20%7C%20March%202020%20%7C%20Public%2FSeedlist&utmcontent=%3E%20Information%20for%20pregnant%20women&dmm_i=15N0

@LunaNova

Congratulations on your baby and thank you for that breakdown of your birth experience, really helpful.

Can I ask did they do any post birth checks on your baby with doctor eg test for heart rhythm? With my DD we had to visit the doctor before being discharged and she had a heart murmur detected. As a result we had to spend an extra 2 days on the ward til a Registrar was available to check her.

Are they still doing these checks? My Trust only have limited information online and didn't give a clear answer over the phone unfortunately.

I work in a birth suite, although I’m over in Australia. Honestly, the best thing you can do is ask your specific hospital as there will be different responses from each different place. However, if you’re only 28 weeks and you carry to term, a LOT may have changed in that time. Our Covid-19 management policy is literally changing on a daily basis - I could barely tell you what the rules are for this week, let alone 3 months time!

Very best of luck for your arrival though!

The midwives are telling us that birth partners are allowed to the birth
Not on post natal ward (good thing by all counts)
Discharged are quicker as long no complications
C sections are still go ahead but may be delayed or brought forward to fit in with availability of theatre
They also say it could change but are following RCOG guidelines

News this morning says government advisor suggests lockdown restrictions could be reduced in a few weeks

You have 10 weeks to go
That’s a really long time, nearly 3 months away
Try not to worry yet