Corona Virus and [Home]birth

Edit: 3/14 to include this information from the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine and this link from Stephen Harrod Buhner which has some information on herbs. NOTE: there are herbs in his protocols that ARE NOT SAFE FOR PREGNANCY and may not be safe for children. Please consult your local herbalists (whose incomes are likely severely effected by this virus) in what you can take while pregnant. They are good for those you share a house with so partners, adult family members, friends and coworkers have at it!

I’ve written this over 3/12 and 3/13, information is quickly changing and I will try to update it as I can but please double check the links provided for the most up to date information.
I know there is a lot of information floating around online about the Corona virus, Covid-19. I wanted to share Dr Aviva Romm’s link here where she shares a great amount of information about covid-19. I also like Dr Jack Newman’s info he shares about feeding as well as separating birthing parent and baby if the parent is sick. As with any recommendation you should understand risks, benefits and alternatives. The CDC has some good information and also had a call to discuss updates.

Resources for Covid-19 and birth

The following is from a call from the CDC on 3/12/2019:

This is based on 34 cases reported out in China so a small amount of cases but it’s what we know.
• Pregnancy is a risk factor for COVID-19 that is likely similar to H1N1 and SARS. So, symptoms “could” be worse if one is expecting.

• 1 stillborn but not known if it was caused by COVID-19 or just coincidence. (Remember we have a small sample size, this could easily be related to other factors).
• Labors tend to start in early term (37 weeks to 38 weeks 6 days) for those with active COVID-19.

• Babies will not catch COVID-19 in the womb, but can right after birth. (Please see Dr Newman’s info on this)

• Elevated C-section rates are seen due to upper respiratory infection symptoms (but could be due to providers being overly cautious).

• Quarantining newborns away from active COVID-19 parents is recommended, but there are other protocols to help if this is not possible.

• The best practice suggested are the separation of the dyad with healthy parent/family member maintaining good hygiene and caring for the newborn until the birthing parent is cleared of COVID-19.

• Breastmilk from an active COVID-19 parent is safe to feed a newborn.

• Exclusive breast-pumping is the recommendation to avoid contact between the active COVID-19 birthing parent and the heathy newborn.

https://emergency.cdc.gov/coca/calls/2020/callinfo_031220.asp Lots of great information during this call. Please go listen to the recording!

It looks like pregnant people aren’t at a super increased risk of complications from the virus but it is good to limit contact to reduce exposure. If you’re in contact with someone who is immune compromised or someone who is over 60 it’s ideal to limit contact with them and to practice good hygiene when around them with hand washing and avoiding touching. In Ohio we are being asked to limit going into crowded places, limit gatherings of more than 100 and to prepare to isolate as much as possible. Schools in Ohio are canceled for 3 weeks. I’ve seen on social media parents working to help each other with childcare and I’ve seen offers for grocery runs in my local groups for at risk populations. Community is even more important now that this is community spread.

For me, I went to the store to stock up on supplies and favorite snacks for the kiddos. Side note: whyyyy do my children always eat way more when they’re home vs when they are at school??? Double checked my TP stock and got extra vitamins and probiotics for my children. I included multivitamins (Smarty Pants), vitamin D and an Zarbees elderberry/immune supplement (my youngest kiddos classroom had the flu, there is some info about elderberry being ineffective or causing issues with covid) that includes vitamin C and Zinc.

How we are trying to help

Myself and my midwifery partners over at Well Rounded Midwifery and Ohio Hills Midwifery talked and will be offering lower cost spots for those of you who are late transfers into care. This offer is a smaller package that is mainly birth focused and the first week postpartum. An additional postpartum package can be purchased if you would want to have more postpartum visits in your home. As is with any birth we would plan at home we would like to have copies of previous medical records and you would need to be low risk at the onset of birth. We will be taking steps to keep ourselves healthy with additional supplements, healthy foods and as much sleep as midwives can get. We each only have the capacity for a certain number of clients and can’t over extend ourselves and still be great primary care providers so this offer is limited.