The increase in the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals has forced health institutions to establish special strategies for the assistance of pregnant women.
Providing adequate space for care is a major priority. “There will be beds. You will have providers,” said Wadia Mulla, director of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine and medical director of labor and delivery at Temple University Hospital.
The director of obstetrics said that they are prepared to care for women in labor. Additionally, have special rooms where laboring women with symptoms of COVID-19 will be attended and isolated.
Mulla explained that pregnant women with coronavirus are at a higher risk for pneumonia and preterm birth. However, according to studies conducted in China, it does not seem possible that the virus transmits in the womb.
Some women are afraid to come into contact with a patient or health-care worker who has contracted the virus. Mulla said Temple, like most hospitals, is taking extreme care to keep coronavirus patients isolated from everyone else.
In addition, most hospitals in the region have taken drastic measures regarding visits, instituting new policies that allow women in labor to have only one partner or labor coach with them.
One of the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak is that many pregnant women are afraid to come into contact with a patient or health-care worker who has contracted the virus. Given this situation, Mulla said that Temple University, like most hospitals, is taking extreme care to keep coronavirus patients isolated.
Meanwhile, providers who specialize in home births have experienced an uptick in calls from women inquiring about how to deliver outside a hospital. Asasiya Muhammad, who owns Inner Circle Midwifery in Germantown, said more women than usual are calling to schedule home births, saying the hospital they planned to use now has strict policies that mean they can’t have a full support team.
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It is also noteworthy that the demand for information on home births has increased considerably.Asasiya Muhammad, who owns Inner Circle Midwifery in Germantown, said more women than usual are calling to schedule home births, saying the hospital they planned to use does not provide a guarantee of full support.
Muhammad said that pregnant women should not opt for this measure because of fears generated by the coronavirus alone. “Home birth should be an option because you’re a good candidate, not just because you’re afraid to be in the hospital,” she said.