Covid, 34 weeks pregnant and looking after other peoples children

[mum2bee123]

Hi all,

I wanted to gain some wisdom from other people. My sister and her husband are really struggling to work full time from home, look after a 9 month old and a 3 year old whilst also trying to buy a house and do the paper work attached with this under covid. I am 34 weeks pregnant and live nearby. I am working remotely from home, but do not have much to do and will be going off on maternity leave soon. I feel sorry for her and would like to unburden her by looking after her children either a few hours a day, or some days.

To give context, I have been socially isolating for a few weeks and my husband has been mostly working from home (he is a doctor and has had to go into hospital on occasion to see patients, but only a few times). My sister and her partner have also been working from home full time. A large part of me wants to help as I feel sorry for her, however a small part of me is cautious incase I catch something so close to the due date. Of course, it is against government regulations too... I would love some advice on what you could do in this instance? Thank you.

My main concern in your shoes would be that if you catch the virus your husband will too, which might mean he couldn't enter the hospital to be your birth partner (assuming that's your plan). I'm 34 weeks pregnant and that's what I'm most concerned about, since pregnant women don't seem to be any worse affected by covid than your average person.

For me, it would depend how carefully they have been socially distancing. If they have been cautious then the risk to you is quite low. Having said that, in your their trimester you are more vulnerable and rcog says from 28 weeks, women should be more particular about social distancing measures. As the previous poster says too, it would be a real shame if your husband caught it and then couldn't be with you for the birth. Hard decision though.

If your sister and her family have been working from home and properly social distancing then I would feel looking after her children would be relatively low risk.

I would expect that your husband's job and you attending hospital appointments for your pregnancy would actually put you at more risk than looking after children that have properly been avoiding contact. If you feel well enough and your sister is happy to send her children to you, then I would think it's a reasonable thing to do.

I'm a childminder and I'm not returning to work on 1st June because I have no way of knowing how careful the families of the children I look after are being. With some of them I suspect that they are happy to take risks and are probably meeting still with their family. If I knew a child's family was being as careful as I am being I'd be happy to care for them.

Third trimester

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I feel fairly safe and the risk is low.