Pregnant in a Pandemic
What should you expect when you’re expecting in today’s upside-down world? Tatyana Leonov finds out.
I never thought I’d be announcing my pregnancy to my family via Zoom, but different times call for different measures. We changed our virtual background to our latest scan for everyone to see. Surprise!
My friend Elle Hasler, who’s further ahead in her pregnancy, neared term as the COVID-19 cloud turned into a raging storm, sending her anxiety levels skyrocketing. “At the antenatal appointments we had to wash our hands in the appointment room, the chairs had covers, and we sat far apart.
“Time was limited to 15 minutes and involved a check of bub on Doppler, feeling for position and checking blood pressure. At one appointment I broke down crying. The midwife said if the situation worsened they might have to work fully gowned and masked, which would make it all that much more difficult because, when giving birth, women rely on facial cues for comfort.”
Dr Adrian Kwok, head of obstetrics at Mater Hospital in Sydney, says offering definitive advice on childbirth during this pandemic is difficult due to limited information. “What we can undertake is to keep our information as updated as possible in a rapidly evolving situation.”
Fortunately, research so far suggests that COVID-19 is unlikely to affect pregnant women any more adversely than the general population. They are, however, generally considered to be a vulnerable group.
Jules Brooks, a childbirth educator and doula, suggests that women reduce stress by following the usual recommendations, such as walking, yoga, birth meditations, snuggling, watching movies and sharing their feelings with their partners. Keeping abreast of the latest information (without succumbing to checking news sites all day) is the best way to stay both informed and reassured.
Kwok recommends the federal government-funded Pregnancy, Birth & Baby service as the first point of call for pregnant women and couples. The free seven-days-a-week national helpline and website has a COVID-19 focus. He also suggests visiting the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists website, which has a dedicated information hub.
Of course, even with the plethora of available information, soon-to-be mums crave personal interaction – with family, friends and the people caring for them during this significant time in their lives. With recommendations constantly changing, online catch-ups are still the safest bet. I have regular Zoom and FaceTime chats with family, multiple WhatsApp group chats happening at any one time, and know that support services are available online too, if and when I need them.
“Antenatal counselling is provided by most Australian hospitals,” Kwok says, with the Mater offering a “comprehensive emotional health and wellbeing program” in association with Gidget Foundation Australia.
Brooks says this is a great time to access information online. “Five years ago I co-created the About Birth website, which allows couples to learn about birth from the comfort of their own home. And lately I’ve seen many of pregnant women and their partners turn to the virtual world as face-to-face contact isn’t always an option.”
The internet isn’t a bad way to share information, either. When my husband and I first found out we were having another baby we thought we’d be telling loved ones in person, but things changed and that’s okay. Now we have a great Zoom memory, and with the due date still months away who knows what the future holds. If we’re still Zooming then … well, I’ll just be one of thousands of mums holding the new addition up to the computer camera.
