Worry and anxiety while planning for birth of baby during coronavirus outbreak
The world can change a lot in nine months. Last fall, everything seemed normal.
Summer was drawing to a close. Work was good. My family took a short trip to Lake Erie. Football season was starting. Relatives visited. And my wife and I found out there was an addition to our family on the way.
We have two young children, a girl and a boy, and weren't sure if we could handle another baby running around the house. But looking ahead, a full house and siblings who would grow up together seemed ideal for us.
So we will have three kids under age 5 when our baby girl arrives in May. While this is exciting news at any time, at this time, during the coronavirus pandemic, it is also filled with anxiety and worry.
The baby's birth could be in the middle of a curve or spike in the outbreak in the United States. Health professionals are saying that a large percentage of people will contract the virus. But what does that mean for a family with a baby on the way?
As we prepare for the baby and try to get our lives in order, questions like, "Should the children share a room?" or "Should we get a minivan?" have been replaced by, "Will the hospital be able to accommodate us?" and "Should we think about a home birth?"
What if the hospital or maternity ward is overrun with covid-19 cases? Even in the best scenario, the maternity ward shares common spaces, including entrances, admitting area, waiting area and elevators, with the rest of the hospital.
Will there be a shortage of nurses and doctors to help us? Will covid-19 patients need to be cared for in the maternity ward? What about the shortage of masks and gowns?
Will I be able to be with my wife when she gives birth?
Then there's the issue of how will we deal with caring for our toddlers when the baby arrives, especially if labor is long. With no close family in Western Pennsylvania, my mother is scheduled to come to stay with us for a few weeks to help corral the kids, but what if she can't come? She probably shouldn't fly. She probably shouldn't come.
And what if my wife or I get the virus?
Will the newborn be OK? Fevers can be deadly for babies in the first months. Will she need to be isolated to ensure her safety?
And is the newborn in the womb protected? There isn't much information on how coronavirus affects pregnancies, but reports say that the coronavirus is not passed from mother to child in the womb, or through amniotic fluid, cord blood or breast milk. But the information is limited, and there are no firm conclusions about pregnancy and the virus.
Many are making sacrifices, especially people on the front lines of the outbreak. I read an account of an emergency room doctor caring for patients who is self-quarantining from his family, including a newborn, in order to protect them.
We are nervous, and we've been practicing social distancing, but really our lives are pretty simple. The children seem to know that things are different. They ask, "Why is the library closed?" and "Why can't we see our friends?"
And while we as a family try to stay healthy, we are relieved to know that children are mostly successful in fighting off the virus and only get mild symptoms if they do contract it.
The best case, it seems, would be that social distancing and the slowing, if not outright closing, of normal daily life will slow the spread of the virus and lead to a managed outbreak. Just in time for our baby girl to come into the world.
A world that is a lot different than one from nine months ago.
Frank Carnevale is a Tribune-Review digital producer. You can contact Frank via Twitter .
Categories: Coronavirus | Editor's Picks | Health | News
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