With the Covid-19 pandemic even seasoned parents are fearful of going through pregnancy, labor, delivery and bringing your baby home from the hospital.
Coming home with a baby is always an overwhelming experience even without the extraordinary times that we are now living in. It is understandable for you to feel anxious. You can bring the baby home safely and enjoy this time together with the right knowledge.
How Dangerous is Covid-19 for a Newborn?
There is still not a lot of data available showing manyc ases of neonates with the Covid-19 virus. There have been newborns affected with symptoms of the diseases but it seems that premature infants are at higher risk of becoming severely ill from the disease.
Going Home with Baby
So you were safely ushered into the hospital or birthing center, sanitized and kept under sterile conditions the whole time you were there. Now it is time to go back to the real world and not just by yourself but with a brand new baby. What do you do? How do you do it? You have some many questions and we have the answers.
Should My Baby Wear a Mask or Face Shield?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an article about Covid19 and pregnancy advises against the use of masks and face shields in infants or children under the age of two years old. Using these can increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. There is also a risk of suffocation, choking or strangulation if kids wear a mask or face shield.
How to Operate At Home with Baby
What About Postnatal Appointments?
So you have brought the baby home but you now have postnatal appointments. Once you have been discharged from the hospital your postnatal appointments will be scheduled. How many of these appointments will you need to keep? This all depends on your individual situation. Typically you can expect to have 3 routine postnatal appointments at your local health center or doctor’s office or with your community midwife. One on your first full day home as well as one on day 5 and one again on day 10.
Your appointments may be a mixture of telephone consultations, face to face care, video check-ins or home or clinic visits. Once you have completed your last postnatal appointment on day 10 your care will be transferred to a local team.
What About Pediatrician Appointments?
Your newborn will need to have their in-person pediatrician visits for their routine vaccines and for their general developmental assessments.
Regular vaccines such as those for hepatitis B, plio etc are necessary to build your baby’s immunity. Remember though COVID-19 is currently rampant, other diseases also pose a threat to your newborn.
It is imperative to assess growth and development of your baby to ensure they are not falling behind. And if they are, it is important to catch this so a plan can be created and followed to ensure they can “catch up”.
How Often Should I Clean my House?
You can continue your normal household cleaning routine but you will want to increase your hand sanitizing and hand washing routine. If your normal cleaning routine used to be never, of course you will have to do better than that. Once a week general cleaning should be fine but if you have a lot of traffic going in and out of the household you may need to have more frequent cleaning than that.
Can I Breastfeed?
Physicians are still recommending mothers breastfeed their babies. You just need to ensure that you are using good hygiene before feeding your infant. You may also want to wear a mask if you are having symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19.
How Can I Protect the Baby if Me or My Partner have COVID-19?
If you or your partner have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or has been exposed they should isolate days in a separate room. You will have to limit the use of shared space as much as possible and aim to have surfaces disinfected after each use by the infected individual.
As a parent you don’t want to lose that bond with your child and they still need to be cared for, so you should wash your hands, sanitize and wear a mask at all times.
Can Family and Friends Meet Baby?
During our present circumstances it is best to limit the amount of people you will have entering your home. Family members can be sent videos and pictures or you can allow them to see the baby in real time with a video call. If for example you have retired grandparents that do not expose themselves to outside forces then you can have them meet a baby in person.
Even so in the previous example, they should wear a mask and wash and sanitize their hands prior to handling the baby. You should not have visitors that are having symptoms even if they do not have a traceable exposure to COVID.
While having visitors can be lovely, it will also be tiring. Your body will be recovering from birth and you may be trying to establish breastfeeding. All of this will be going on while you are trying to get sleep and maybe won’t be successful at this.
Don’t agree to anything that makes you uncomfortable. It is ok to be afraid to allow people into your home. Most of your loved ones will be more than happy and willing to wait a couple weeks or months while you settle in and our baby grows and strengthens.
Risks to Mom and Baby After Birth
Having a baby does not increase your risk of contracting COVID-19. It does not increase your risk of becoming seriously ill if you contract the virus either. Unless you have an underlying illness or some form of infection you should not be at an increased risk of getting COVID-19.
You can consume a balanced diet and engage in mild exercises to help remain healthy. There is still not a lot of data on newborns and the coronavirus but it does not appear to be a state that increases the risk of catching the virus or becoming seriously ill from its infection.
You should maintain proper hygiene through hand washing and sanitizing and follow social distancing guidelines. If you have concerns about your health or your baby’s health after going home in the pandemic you should seek medical advice.
Midwife In-Home Care
Your midwife will often offer care up to 14 days after birth. If you are having difficulties you can have them onboard up to 6 weeks after your child’s delivery. How much time and if your midwife will be offering home care is absolutely up to them. They may offer video chat to answer questions or to give advice, say, on breastfeeding. Some midwives continue to do home visits as long as nobody in a household is exhibiting symptoms of the coronavirus.
You can also opt to hire a baby nurse, especially if you don’t have the support of a partner at home. With the pandemic, many families are being kept apart due to loss of income and the inability to travel. If you need it, a baby nurse can be a great addition to your life. They can help you get some sleep even if you only have them come in for a couple hours each day.
Managing Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression is not to be confused with the baby blues. The baby blues is a transient period where you may start crying for no reason. This tends to start the week after you give birth and typically ends by the time your baby is 10 days old. You will be anxious, touchy and irritable but this too shall pass. Postpartum depression on the other hand will not.
With the pandemic, there have been more cases of mental health issues all across the population. The labor and delivery process comes with its own set of blues coupled with those anxieties brought on by the pandemic. If you are struggling with anxiety and not able to make sense of how you feel after going home with the baby, you are not alone.
Remember that your body just went through an extraordinary experience, that alone can be stressful. You suddenly had a lot of chemical changes in your body and now you have to recover.
The Bottom Line
As a new parent the stress is already on, even if you have been around this rodeo before. The pandemic brings on heightened senses of fear and anxiety with so much uncertainty. It is understandable that you are afraid about what lies ahead for you and your newborn.
What you don’t want to do is overly stress about these things. Remember that your stress levels will affect your baby. Take the necessary precautions when it comes to hygiene, personal distancing and masking. Stay safe and stay inside.
Cris
