So everyone always says… birth plans rarely go as planned. Well… I am pretty sure that giving birth while we hit the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States wasn’t in my birth plan.
I am 37 weeks and 2 days today on March 16, 2020 so I will definitely be giving birth amidst all this as the US has finally gotten on board with measures to slow down the pandemic. It changes drastically on a daily basis as Trump contradicts previous statements he has made, sometimes even from day to day. (I won’t get into that now but I am sure you can tell how I feel about him and the way he has dealt with this crisis).
I can not tell you how glad I am that I followed my gut in the first trimester to hire a licensed midwife to have a home birth vbac. I can not think of a better time in history to not have to go into a hospital for a normal, low risk birth. Now, of course there is a small chance I could require a transfer (my midwife has a 7% transfer rate of which only .5% is an emergency. “The most common reason for transport from home to hospital is lack of progress in a first time mom…Other reasons for transport may include unresolved fetal distress, thick meconium with birth not eminent or excessive blood loss.”) BUT, I am positive and have faith that labor and delivery will go smoothly. I have around a 90% chance of no transfer and I honestly think higher becausese of how much I do not want to go to a hospital unless it was totally medically necessary for myself or baby, ,meaning the much lower side of those statistics. Being able to stay home (as I have to due to the current pandemic anyways) I will be able to avoid the “fight or flight stress” of going to the hospital which can profoundly affect labor and birth. Now… I do have the added anxiety of all this crazy stuff happening just a few weeks before birth, which isn’t ideal, but I am trying my best to use my mindfulness, breath and keeping things simple to not go into panic mode. As of this hour, I am still able to drive to my midwife tomorrow for my 37 week appointment and pick up my birth tub. Now if things get more intense with lockdowns and limited movement, I’ll update with a new post. I think if a lockdown happened, she’d just come to me at my home for final appointments.
When policies in hospitals already can be huge issues and blockades for women desiring a normal birth without intervention, I can’t imagine what’s going to happen here now with this pandemic and hospitals bracing for the impact. I have received great information so far about the World Health Organization’s recommendations which may be helpful to know if you are currently pregnant. I highly recommend subscribing to Evidence Based Birth’s email updates.
I will still be prepared in case of having to transfer to a hospital, knowing what the “new” recommendations are from WHO to be able to advocate for myself for things such as no mother/baby separation and allowing my doula with me (which may be a tough battle). I don’t want to add to anyone else’s anxiety with this but if you are planning a hospital birth, you may be up against more policies, such as no doula in room with you, or if you have COVID-19 they could try to enforce mother baby separation. I highly encourage every pregnant woman right now to become her own advocate and gatherer of knowledge. It might not be a bad idea to look into home birth or birth center options either if you are a low risk pregnancy and you are hoping to avoid being on a hospital timeline for labor/birth, restrictions to who can there, concern over mother/baby separation, etc. A birthing center could be a great option at this time if you aren’t comfortable with a home birth. (Although they are the same in terms of medical support, the only difference might be distance to the nearest hospital).
Our hospital which is 4 minutes from our house (which is why it made sense to me instead of a birth center (see previous post) already has a confirmed case of COVID-19 and of course will rise by the day. Although I do think that my baby and myself are not at severe high risk, I also know that there hasn’t been enough time or experience to really know so I prefer to be on the side of caution. I also want to be a part of the solution and not the problem so adhering to the guidelines of social distancing and staying home.
If you are currently about to give birth, where are you planning to give birth? What policies do you already see happening in your area? Please comment and share!
Birth and Botox 