Our Natural Birthing Center can be a safe alternative to the hospital during the COVID-19 crisis. Give us a call to schedule a consultation – 929-888-6996

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VIRTUAL Birthing Classes:

• 1 Hr Lactation Support class
• 12 Hr Hypno-Birthing class
• 5 hr 1 Day All inclusive pregnancy class
• 3 hr Childbirth class
• 3 hr Baby Care class
• 3 hr Post Partum Class
• Basic Life Support (BLS) Class

Nurse Jackie says,
"Babies DO come with Instructions"

Thinking about a Natural Child Birth - The Way Nature Intended?
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https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/inpatient-obstetric-healthcare-guidance.html

Mother/Baby Contact

• It is unknown whether newborns with COVID-19 are at increased risk for severe complications. Transmission after birth via contact with infectious respiratory secretions is a concern. To reduce the risk of  transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 from the mother to the newborn, facilities should consider temporarily separating (e.g., separate rooms) the mother who has confirmed COVID-19 or is a PUI from her baby until the mother’s transmission-based precautions are discontinued, as described in the Interim Considerations for Disposition of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19. See the considerations below for temporary separation:
  • The risks and benefits of temporary separation of the mother from her baby should be discussed with the mother by the healthcare team.
  • A separate isolation room should be available for the infant while they remain a PUI. Healthcare facilities should consider limiting visitors, with the exception of a healthy parent or caregiver. Visitors should be instructed to wear appropriate PPE, including gown, gloves, face mask, and eye protection. If another healthy family or staff member is present to provide care (e.g., diapering, bathing) and feeding for the newborn, they should use appropriate PPE. For healthy family members, appropriate PPE includes gown, gloves, face mask, and eye protection. For healthcare personnel, recommendations for appropriate PPE are outlined in the Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations.
  • The decision to discontinue temporary separation of the mother from her baby should be made on a case-by-case basis in consultation with clinicians, infection prevention and control specialists, and public health officials. The decision should take into account disease severity, illness signs and symptoms, and results of laboratory testing for the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2. Considerations to discontinue temporary separation are the same as those to discontinue transmission-based precautions for hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Please see Interim Considerations for Disposition of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19.
  • If colocation (sometimes referred to as “rooming in”) of the newborn with his/her ill mother in the same hospital room occurs in accordance with the mother’s wishes or is unavoidable due to facility limitations, facilities should consider implementing measures to reduce exposure of the newborn to the virus that causes COVID-19.
    • Consider using engineering controls like physical barriers (e.g., a curtain between the mother and newborn) and keeping the newborn ≥6 feet away from the ill mother.
    • If no other healthy adult is present in the room to care for the newborn, a mother who has confirmed COVID-19 or is a PUI should put on a facemask and practice hand hygiene¹ before each feeding or other close contact with her newborn. The facemask should remain in place during contact with the newborn. These practices should continue while the mother is on transmission-based precautions in a healthcare facility.

Breastfeeding

• During temporary separation, mothers who intend to breastfeed should be encouraged to express their breast milk to establish and maintain milk supply. If possible, a dedicated breast pump should be provided. Prior to expressing breast milk, mothers should practice hand hygiene.¹ After each pumping session, all parts that come into contact with breast milk should be thoroughly washed and the entire pump should be appropriately disinfected per the manufacturer’s instructions. This expressed breast milk should be fed to the newborn by a healthy caregiver.
• If a mother and newborn do room-in and the mother wishes to feed at the breast, she should put on a facemask and practice hand hygiene before each feeding.

Hospital Discharge

• Discharge for postpartum women should follow recommendations described in the Interim Considerations for Disposition of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19.
• For infants with pending testing results or who test negative for the virus that causes COVID-19 upon hospital discharge, caretakers should take steps to reduce the risk of transmission to the infant, including following the Interim Guidance for Preventing Spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Homes and Residential Communities.

Footnote:

¹ Hand hygiene includes use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60% to 95% alcohol before and after all patient contact, contact with potentially infectious material, and before putting on and upon removal of PPE, including gloves. Hand hygiene can also be performed by washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If hands are visibly soiled, use soap and water before returning to alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Pregnant Women Prepare for Childbirth Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

By Lydia Hu, New York City
PUBLISHED 6:30 AM ET Mar. 23, 2020

NEW YORK – Poonam Mathias expects to welcome her second child, a baby girl, on April 1 with a a planned c-section. Amid the global pandemic, Mathias now has questions about what delivery and the days after will look like.

“I have family nearby, whether or not I allow them to help,” she said is one of her uncertainties.

It is not yet clear whether the coronavirus poses any special risk to pregnant women and newborns. Health experts continue to stress that older adults and people with underlying medical conditions are most vulnerable. Still, the pandemic is at a minimum creating logistical complications for women giving birth.

Betty Fletcher is a public health graduate student at Columbia University who was planning to deliver her first child at New York Presbyterian. The hospital announced a new visitor policy Sunday, prohibiting birthing partners, even spouses, from entering the hospital.

“We understand that this will be difficult for our patients and their loved ones, but we believe that this is a necessary step to promote patient safety,” a hospital spokesperson said in a statement.

Fletcher said she’s glad she purchased tickets earlier on Sunday to fly back home to Hawaii to give birth. 

“But who’s to say that by the time it gets to that point, hospitals in Hawaii won’t have implemented similar policies?,” said Fletcher. 

Francesca Crane, also pregnant with her first baby, grapples with plans to deliver in late June amid changes to the visitor policy at Mount Sinai West that will allow only one healthy partner to accompany her.

“I never expected that I would have to choose between my husband and my mom,” Crane said.

And other soon-to-be mothers seek alternatives to a hospital birth.

Brooklyn is home to two of the state’s three birthing centers that offer natural childbirth free of medical interventions. The Brooklyn Birthing Center says its call volume has doubled in the last week, as anxious moms-to-be worry about how the health crisis might affect their deliveries.

The Birthing Center of New York says it’s receiving calls from women in late stages of pregnancy whose sole motivation is to avoid hospitals treating patients with the coronavirus.

“We are telling them that they should stay with their providers that have been with them and have a relationship with them and know them best,” said Lisa Eng, DO, owner and operator of The Birthing Center of New York. “They should talk to their physicians or their midwifes about their fears and work through that,” she explained.