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?

Not panicking. Not saying they won’t leave their house with a baby for fear of catching a virus. It’s now what 30 something cases? Out of an entire country?
I am immunosuppressed. If I catch it then it could be really bad news for me. But it won’t stop me going out for a meal or shopping or basically living my life.
You have a heightened level of anxiety. That’s what you need to get sorted.

I am not worried about the situation as it is now. I am worried about the future

But the worry isn’t in proportion to the likely threat. And it’s pointless pondering being on lockdown and totally isolating yourself when that may well never be necessary.
You need to speak to your mw about your anxiety. Before you have the baby.

What is likely though? i think we have to accept its going to spread everywhere now

Everywhere? What every office and school and supermarket?
Less than 30 cases nationwide.
Please seek help for your anxiety. This thread won’t help you.

That's how people spread the virus by thinking their common cough isn't anything more serious. The virus will spread and pregnant people should be very vigilant. This is worse than the flu except there is no vaccination.

I think telling people they should seek help for being concerned about the life of their baby is not fair. People have a right to be concerned.

Somebody came into work today, knowing her husband had been in close contact with a confirmed covid-19 case, it took a week for them to be diagnosed - she was told to self isolate immediately.

I’m also 7 months pregnant and have 2children at middle school.

Yes it’s concerning, but you have to weigh everything up. I am making sure DC get into habit of hand washing more than usual (when home from school etc) I’m keeping my distance from people when out and about. But I am not going to let it all affect the excitement of baby 3. Yes the hospitals could be busier by the time our due dates arrive, and may consider homebirth (it’s my third and midwives encouraging, I think they like HB’s!)

I hope you can get the anxiety under wraps and try enjoy your pregnancy :)

Everything that you are saying i am feeling too so you are not alone. I am also due in May.

Ignore people telling you its mental health you are a worried mum to be and you have every right to be worried when there are a lot of unknowns.

The only thing i am telling myself is no one can predict what will happen and i will just have to face the situation when May arrives.

Peoples responses of, everything will be fine if your under 65 and that obs/midwives will be fully staffed and not at home with the virus/caring for children in isolation/or in isolation themselves, annoy me so much. I really really do hope they are right but what we fear is based on whats happened in china/italy not that we have made it up.

OP I have health anxiety and it is very hard to gain balance at the moment.
Don’t stop sharing your fears. Keep talking. But... also acknowledge all the ‘normal’ things you’ve done today. Read to your 4yo. Got their dinner ready. Cleaned up a bit. Had a walk. Balance is everything in this situation.
It taints everything, I know. I won’t share my thoughts as I don’t want to give you more to think about and I’m well supported irl but you must keep talking.

But presumably tens of thousands of babies and young children have caught the virus in China and have been ok? The risk is very much towards the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. You’re obviously not elderly OP, and presumably you don’t smoke so aren’t damaging your lung function already - it’s the effect on the lungs which is the danger with Coronavirus.

In your position I would most likely want a home or midwife unit birth- but that’s purely because I have a bit of a thing about hospitals being breeding grounds for germs anyway, and chose to have my kids in a stand alone MLU (ages ago- nothing to do with Coronavirus!)

Another thought - with older children who are at school and presumably nursery, the likelihood is, they pick up all kinds of bugs all the time. When you have further children after the firstborn, they’re undoubtedly exposed to way more germs than our PFBs are!

It’s natural to feel concerned but extreme anxiety making you feel like this is not normal

I wont be able to have a home birth. My last two ended up needing ventouse so likelihood is i would end up needing to go in anyway. Im trying to elect for a section too.
Thank you to the pregnant people who have replied its made me feel better to feel im not alone. This thread has really, really upset me with people implying im just mentally ill. I do have health anxiety so im literally facing my worst nightmare at the time i will be having my baby. My anxiety may be higher than others but thats because im a mam worried about her children! Im terrified of catching the virus whilst pregnant and how that might effect the baby, and also about the conditions in hospital at the time, and the chance of picking up the virus whilst in hospital. They keep saying they want to push the peak back until may.... And although i completely understand the benefits of this for the nhs... I cant help but think why is my much wanted and waited for little girl going to arrive in the peak of an outbreak
Theres literally no guidance for pregnant women either which makes it worse. I spoke to my gp yesterday and she said the advice is no different to non pregnant people but she couldnt say if the risk was the same. Its easy for people who arent pregnant/elderly/in a high risk group to say it will be fine.
I have 3 grandparents in their 80s. One of which is in kindey failure and visits hospital every other day for dialysis. She is obviously hugely at risk because of her age qnd medical condition but also how her hospital visits are completely essential which is where she will likely pick it up

@jrobhatch29 you aren't mentally ill, there isn't enough information for pregnant people and I understand your anxieties! We can only hope for the best and stay positive as the negative vibes will only create more (hopefully unnecessary) worry.

This is my first baby and understandably am more concerned then anything. My anxieties are decreasing as each day goes by as I realise it will be out of my control and we can only remain positive and hope for the best.

It's not fair people dismissing how we are concerned that aren't in our shoes.

@jrobhatch29 you could be me! I'm also due another baby in May, also hoping to have an elective c section.... Also terrified about coronavirus, I too suffer health anxiety.
It's such a hard time, at the minute I just want to stay inside, but rationally I know I can't do that, and with another young child know its not fair to keep him in.
I have my mum and dad who both have health issues, so I'd be terrified of passing it on, but also I'm scared I'd be higher risk too, and of course the baby when he arrives... Nobody seems to know if this is the case with it being so new.
I guess we just have to try and carry on best we can and hope for the best.

Your not mentally ill, it is extremely common to experience heightened anxiety in pregnancy. In fact, it would be unusual to be not worrying!

You could try a little distraction like watching or reading things which make you feel good or make you laugh.

My consultant was amazing when I became overwhelmed by anxiety during my last pregnancy. He really listened. We drew up an action plan together. If you feel overwhelmed you could try asking for an appointment with your consultant.

You have a lot on your plate, go gently on yourself.

I’m also 7 months and going for an elective in May.
I’ve been very anxious.
I am struggling to sleep too.

The concern of what this might look like in May to me is massive right now

Where have you pregnant people been lol. Ive just repeatedly told im a psycho on here!
My anxiety is really overwhelming but i feel its justified

@honeychild23
@Emeeno1
@Penny1567
OP has health anxiety. At the start of the thread stated she was refreshing the news every 10 minutes for updates. This IS a MH issue.
No OP you’re not a “psycho” and I can understand being concerned or wanting to limit unnecessary risks.
But you’re not doing that. You are obsessing and panicking. That’s unhealthy and unhelpful. Seek help for your anxiety.

I have seeked health for my anxiety. Ive been to gp, have appointment with my cbt therapist tomorrow and seeing my midwife on thursday. However.... This seeking of help wont stop me massively worrying! Of course i have a mental health problem... But i am not mentally ill as you imply. Im worried about the welfare of my children, family and myself in the midst of an outbreak where we do not know what will happen!! The point of this thread was me hoping to reach out to other pregnant women in the same boat.

You’re splitting hairs. And for someone with health anxiety this kind of sharing fears can be counter productive.

Most of us on here have children OP and we don't have the same levels of anxiety that you do.

You're not a psycho you have a boringly normal MH issue which is causing you to think irrational thoughts about this.

You are hypervigilant at the moment (checking the news constantly). Hypervigilance is great in certain circumstances. If there were snakes in your house, for example. But your brain is applying it to a situation where it's counterproductive. It will make absolutely no difference if you worry or not. There's nothing you can do to affect infection rates in your area. Worrying only helps if it makes solutions. You can't make solutions so there's no point worrying. At which point a person with neurotypical responses would think "fuck it, no point worrying". Your brain does the opposite, worries until you're frantic.

Let's look at the actual facts. You live in an area that is not infected now. You are young and fit and you will have a young child. Both groups with a very low mortality rate. Very very low. Close to zero. The British healthcare system, shitty as it can be, deals with crisis well. It's actually chronic stuff it's useless at. The Iranians and Italians, much as I love them, are notoriously shit at managing this kind of thing. The Germans are managing with 4 times the infection rate of the UK. No deaths, no drama.

Seek help. Your thoughts are wonky.

Previous ventouse doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be in a big hospital this time. The time that would be the most worrying for me would be the actual birth... going into an environment where there is inevitably going to be large numbers of people and health care workers. One of the main reasons I opted for MLU was so there would be 2 midwives maximum in the room- not numerous Comings and goings. Going about my daily business wouldn’t be such a concern for me. But in all honesty when you think of all the newborns in China who must have been exposed it puts it in perspective

Tagging people to convince them i just have a mentall illness and not a reason to be concerned is also counterproductive.

The maternity ward i had my boys in is now midwifery led. Its still within the actual hospital though. Im seeing my midwife on thurs so will discuss options. I was told if i had baby at midwifery led unit and needed intervention i would need to be transferred to another hospital. Would there be an ambulance available if the outbreak worsens? And then thats more contact with health workers. Its so uncertain which is why i am so concerned x

My baby is due in June and while I try to keep calm especially as my older children are worried but it's hard. I work in retail I'm terrified of coming in to contact with someone infected with coronavirus. The rational part of me says it's unlikely as it isn't in our county yet but I'm still wary.
I know anxiety is bad for the baby and I actually feel guilty for having a baby with all this going on but it doesn't make it any easier.