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Giving Birth in Times of Corona


Corona makes our lives pretty hard these days. Worries about the own health and that of our family is certainly the most recurrent thought, especially if you are pregnant and about to welcome the baby soon. Fortunately, so far it has been proved that babies are not in danger of infection if the mother caught the virus. Although, at the same time, it is better for moms-to-be to protect themselves from infection anyway. What I guess is more worrying for parents-to-be is the fact that the norms for the delivery at hospitals are changing very quickly from day to day, including that dads-to-be would not be allowed to attend the delivery or stay at the ward with his new family. This week, I have been researching about all this and this is what I found. I wish from the bottom of my heart that this information can reassure you that things are going to be alright.


Since I became a mom, I follow a couple of German Blogazines for Families, especially Little Years and Mummy Mag. They are always sharing good informations about current situations and offer a good room for discussion. On top of that, thanks to their good performance on social media, in times of Corona they are up-to-date. So informed Little Years for instance in their Stories that at Charité Mitte, fathers-to-be are still allowed to enter the delivery room as well as the family rooms in the ward. However, they must remain there the entire time until release. They are thus not allowed to go in and out. A couple of days ago, the wards were quite empty since there are no large numbers of visitors and only births take place.


In order to corroborate this, and since I really think everyday of all my friends and contacts working in hospitals these days, I called the loving midwife we had for controls after my second son’s birth, who also works at Charité Mitte. According to her, all patients are still cared for. In case of emergency, moms-to-be should not go to ER but straight to the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. The maternity ward for its part has limited visits for only one visitor and one hour a day. Every staff member has to wear a face mask. They follow all safety and hygiene rules by the book, although it is also true that working with face masks during delivery is very uncomfortable. Therefore, it is welcome when patients and company maintain a proper hand hygiene and, at least, the support person wears mouth protection as well.


Also, one of my neighbors gave birth to her second child in the middle of last week. And despite all the new restrictions, she luckily had a good experience at Charité Mitte. There is now a security guard at the entrance and people have to show an ID and tell to which department they are going. This applies also for fathers-to-be. When the partner or support person arrives for the delivery, he or she is not allowed to enter the examination rooms but goes straight to the delivery room when the time comes. This already gives lots of hopes, bearing in mind, that, according to Zeit, in a city of North Rhine Westphalia, the fathers are not allowed to go in anymore, maybe, because that happens to be the focal region of Coronavirus in Germany. In the case of my neighbor, only the partner or husband was allowed to visit. I’m very happy for them because their were able to experience the birth together.


For those of you who are fluent in German, the medical staff at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the Auguste Viktoria Hospital in Schöneberg broadcasts a daily live session at noon under its Instagram Profile, @gyn_magazin with updates on how they are coping with Covid-19. It is very informative and is hosted by the chief physician and chief midwife themselves. FYI, in this hospital, and probably in all of them, the staff is very serious about social distancing even for shift handover. They had to search for a new, bigger room than usual for doing so. They are always up-to-date about contact with patients and pregnant women. “Face masks are mostly useful when each member of the staff wears one. hand hygiene is always important as well as physical distancing”, they wrote in a recent post. There are no joint meals anymore or only with enough distance. Also toward the patients the staff tries to maintain the distance, which, as noted before by my midwife, is not always possible. But they have managed to cope with the current situation.


I watched yesterday’s live session and this is what I can report: What they inform about the current norms apply for all hospitals in the city. Everywhere they are doing their best in maintaining highest standards. From last Friday and until Tuesday there were not many Corona-patients but this week it has been increasing. However, they are preparing for a situation similar in other countries. For doing so, they have opted for the so called “cocoon strategy” which aims at sealing off the delivery rooms since the obstetrics section must unconditionally keep on running.The staff is deployed only for obstetrics and should remain as unaffected as possible by the Corona-situation and task groups.


They also referred to prenatal classes and related courses. Due to the recommended social distancing, midwives are not allowed anymore to offer their courses and some of their services in a physical manner. That is why they are working at a quick pace to organize only courses. For this, you should take a look at their websites as well as at the website of the Berlin Midwife Association.


As well as in the case of Charité, they receive ambulant emergencies directly in their department. If you have surpassed your due date, the hospitals should be still in charge of the following control appointments. However, it seems that some Ob-Gyns are developing a plan on how to relieve hospitals from that task until the 41 pregnancy week. This is why they suggest to ask your doctor first how it can be handled. If you are willing to use PDA during labor, consultation hours with the anesthesiologist are still running as usual. Regarding the Newborn Screening in case of an outpatient birth, you should ask your midwife is she can do it. Some of them work with some laboratories. For further information, please take a look at the website of the Berlin Midwife Association. For the ones among you who are in the early pregnancy and/or still looking for a midwife, the association has created a new platform, the Berliner Hebammenvermittlung.


Last but not least, the medical staff kindly ask your support person to help relieve the situation by wearing a face mask of any sort. According to them, it is THE most important weapon against Corona: “the more people wear face masks, the lower the rate of infection” - at least at the hospital. The good part about this live sessions is that you can ask your questions and they really make an effort in answering them. Plus, they make a very friendly impression.


Now, it can also happen that your midwife is a contact person or was even infected with Coronavirus. Therefore, she will probably not be able to visit you at home, for your own safety. My neighbor, for instance, is awaiting the results of the test taken by her midwife and will probably know for sure in a few days if they are safe or not. In this case, things will probably have to work by phone and/or camera. Even in this case, they are so experienced that they will be able to tell you if your baby is doing well. On this note, Zeit also published a very helpful article by an attending midwife who works at Vivantes Klinikum in Friedrichshain. In a nutshell she advices the following:


1) Trust your gut about what feels right for your baby and give her as much closeness as possible, for instance by means of a baby carrier. If you are unsure of how using it and which position is best for your newborn, you can watch videos on YouTube. Almost all brands offer them according to each model.


2) In order to help breastfeeding and avoid blocked milk ducts or a mastitis, offer your baby enough to drink until the breast is empty, every two hours in the first for weeks. Don’t wait till the baby is too hungry. For this, she also recommends to watch YouTube videos about the proper positions. Alternatively, you can pump milk. Don’t forget to cool your breast and cream your nipples (already at the hospital) with special ointments in order to avoid too much damage. And if you need further help with feeding, make sure to have pre-milk formula at home.


3) Sleep when your baby sleeps and forget anything else in order to counteract sleep deprivation. It really helps. Now is time to be as relaxed as possible.


4) Try to come up with daily rituals after the first two weeks, according to your baby’s but also to your own needs. Structure throughout the day helps the baby recognize when what it going to happen, when to sleep or be awake (on a personal note, that really helps!).


5) When the baby sleeps and if you chose not to sleep or stay by her side, use a t-shirt of you or your husband as her bedding in order for her to feel secure and have a better sleep. And be sure that you can always call your midwife for help. What they also recommend is to build yourself a good network of helping hands for cooking or groceries. This does not need close social contact.


So folks, this is all from my side. I really do hope that I could be helpful and that you have a safe delivery and nice first weeks with your baby at home in times of corona. Don’t forget, you can always call the professionals to ask. I wish you all the best in times of Corona - and always.


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