Childbirth and COVID-19: Keeping Expecting Mothers and Newborns Safe at Saint Mary’s
Saint Mary’s Regional takes great pride in caring for expecting mothers and their babies and in ensuring that our community has access to great obstetric care. This dedication to our region’s growing families has continued throughout the pandemic, and will go on long after this health crisis has passed.
Saint Mary’s is committed to making sure all moms and babies have the safest birthing experience possible. We are taking every necessary precaution to protect our families in labor and delivery from exposure to COVID-19 and to ensure that the risk of infection to expectant mothers and new babies is extremely low. Our extra precautions mean that some aspects of delivery will be as expected, but some may be a little different. The two main changes most families will experience are visitor restrictions and limited entry points to the hospital.
As part of our COVID-19 preparedness efforts, we have moved to a zero-visitor protocol hospital-wide. However, laboring and postpartum mothers are an exception to this rule. These patients may have one healthy adult with them for the delivery and the duration of their hospital stay. This means that every expectant mother can have a companion for as long as they are in the hospital. Visits for siblings, family, and other loved ones, however, will have to wait until mom and baby leave the hospital.
Saint Mary’s Regional is taking additional measures to support and ensure the safety of expectant mothers and newborns. These include:
- Online prenatal and childbirth education classes
- COVID testing and/or illness screening for all OB patients upon arrival
- Isolating any COVID-19-positive patients away from expecting mothers
- Negative pressure rooms available for labor and delivery
- PPE available for laboring and postpartum mothers
- Early discharges (24 hours for vaginal and 48 hours for Cesarean), as long as mom and baby are doing well
- Facebook lactation support group (Saint Mary’s Breastfeeding Support Group)
These measures have been implemented with great care, and we will continue to update them with the health and safety of our expecting mothers and families in mind.
In a time of uncertainty, one thing our expecting families can be sure of is that our experienced OB staff members stand ready to help you on your journey to bring new life into the world. We are here to support you and keep you safe – today, and every day, the future holds.