Pregnancy in the Time of Coronavirus
How the Virus Is Impacting Growing Families
At the beginning of 2020, Justin and Sarah Fosse had given themselves permission to get excited.
After long battle with fertility issues peaked when their son Oliver passed away in the womb at 27 weeks, the Fosses’ road to pregnancy has weathered a lot of heartbreak, but a fertility specialist in Salt Lake City renewed their hope to have children. Then COVID-19 began sweeping the nation, and their doctor urged them to delay the embryo transfer that was scheduled for early May. The couple and their doctor are taking it one day at a time, trying not to focus on the unknowns like whether or not the virus can infect infants.
”My husband and I see this as a huge delay and it really hurts,” Sarah Fosse said. “We cannot lose another baby because he or she has been harmed by this virus.”
The Fosses are just one family facing the medical uncertainties of growing a family during a pandemic.
Chelsea Bellon’s pregnancy with her third daughter is considered high risk because of a potential heart condition, so she sees two specialists in addition to her OB/GYN. The family is in a tight position. They fear letting someone watch their children and one of them contracting COVID-19, so instead of her husband AJ accompanying her to doctors’ appointments, he stays home with their daughters instead. Not that he would have been able to join his wife. Her doctor’s offices have asked that partners and support people not attend appointments with moms-to-be.
Moms to be face unknowns like whether or not their spouse or support person will be able to be in the delivery room with them.
“We’ve been extremely stressed about potential health issues for our unborn daughter, and being alone during ultrasounds has caused such panic for me that I am sometimes unable to calm down for hours after the fact,” she said. “There’s a lot of unknowns in the world, and with our last daughter arriving during this, it’s so scary.”
Bellon, who is due in July, has appreciated the way her pregnancy care team has adjusted their protocol in light of the fast-moving virus. Bellon has been told to call from her car when she arrives at the building instead of sitting in the waiting room. A staff member will escort her straight into an exam room, and then take her temperature and assess her for cold/flu symptoms before she sees her doctor.
Local hospitals are preparing for the strain of treating COVID-19 patients mixed with everyday business like births. Anne Hughes, Communications & Projects Director for Missoula County, said the individual health providers decide what medical procedures they will perform during the pandemic and who they will allow to attend appointments with the patient. She said local hospitals are referring to the CDC’s Covid-19 Guidelines for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women as they establish their policies.
Community Medical Center has instituted stricter visitor restrictions throughout the hospital and encourages people who would visit patients in person to make phone calls or video chat instead. Community Medical Center and St. Pat’s Hospital have decided to cancel elective inductions. Patients will only be induced for medical reasons or if they are well past their due date. According to one St. Pat’s Labor and Delivery nurse, only one support person will be able to be with the patient after delivery, and that person should be the person who lives with the patient or will be spending the most time with the mother and baby. Nurses are doing what they can to limit contact with patients and conserve personal protective equipment (PPE).
Keeping tabs on the changing hospital restrictions for labor and delivery both locally and across the nation has become important for LeeAnne Rimmel, who is due in early June.
“I think for lots of pregnant women you envision what your support will look like, what your labor and delivery will look like. For me that always included having my husband there as my birth partner both to be an advocate for me as a patient in a vulnerable position and also to share this huge moment together. I don’t want to be alone in the hospital and I don’t want him to miss the birth of his first child.”
She said she recognizes ways her provider and support staff are stretched thin by the demands the virus is having on the local health care system. Her husband hasn’t been able to join in-office visits, and she’s heard future visit will most likely be moved to over-the-phone. It takes her longer to get answers from the OB’s office when she has questions as well. She’s already abandoned hopes to have her doula and husband in the delivery room.
”I am trying to mentally prepare for unexpected scenarios and a different support structure than I expected.”
As for Bellon, she’s just trying to relax and not think about the unknowns.
”I’ve taken more naps during the last three weeks than ever before. Naps with my kids. It’s been a special set of memories I’ve locked away. I’m also keeping a journal, which I haven’t done in years!”