CORONAVIRUS MADE ME MISS MY GIRL’S BIRTH
Father-to-be ordered to leave hospital just before his baby daughter was born
A SCOTS dad was ordered to leave the hospital where his wife was waiting to give birth to their first child because of the fear of coronavirus.
Ian Armour, 40, from Inchinnan, near Paisley, is a teacher in Hong Kong where the fears over Coronavirus are in overdrive.
And it meant that the special moment watching his daughter Bella being born was cruelly denied him.
Strict hospital rules meant Ian missed the first day of his precious baby girl’s life and only got to see her when he picked up Bella and his wife, Victoria, 32, the following day.
Victoria had been having contractions since 10pm on February 18 but at 3am, the couple decided it was time to go to Queen Mary Hospital on Hong Kong Island.
Fears of the virus spreading from mainland China have resulted in strict controls at hospitals where there are real concerns among staff that they will become infected. Strikes are being threatened.
When Ian and Victoria arrived at the doors of the hospital they had their temperatures taken by guards before being allowed inside.
But what happened afterwards shows how haphazardly the controls around admittance are being enforced.
Ian said: “I got to take Victoria into her ward and was at her bedside unpacking her clothes and helping her into bed. Then a nurse came in and said, ‘You have to leave now’.” The Scot had already been to A&E to pick up paperwork and bring it back to the labour suite so if he had coronavirus the damage would already have been done.
He said: “I realised I was not going to be there during the labour or birth and that I would not know what was happening or when I would see my wife again.”
Ian went home and got a text message from Victoria later that morning to ask him to bring in some things she needed.
But when he brought them to the hospital he could not even get over the front door and staff refused to come outside to collect them.
He said: “It was crazy. I was in the ward until 4am but eight hours later I couldn’t get inside. I went back to my car not knowing if our baby had been born or if Victoria was in the labour room.
“I had always pictured myself holding my wife’s hand as she gave birth. Instead I was going to be in a car park.”
A friend who spoke Cantonese managed to persuade staff in the labour suite to allow him to deliver his wife’s things but he was not allowed on to the ward to see her.
He said: “Once I was in I wasn’t for leaving so I sat in the corridor. I wasn’t leaving until I knew my wife was OK.
“I saw her being pushed in a wheelchair from the labour suite to the delivery room. She waved at me and I waved back and said, ‘Good luck’.
“That was her away to have my daughter and I couldn’t be with her. It was very upsetting.”
Ian left the hospital and waited for Victoria’s text telling him: “Your daughter has been born.”
The new dad said: “I couldn’t get in to see her for 24 hours and had to rely on photo messages from my wife. I missed a whole day of my daughter being on this planet. It was so frustrating.
“I always had dreams growing up where I would be there with my wife and I would be able to cut the cord, all things fathers should do.”
But he added: “She was worth waiting for. She is lovely, she’s perfect.” ●A total of 368 tests for the virus have been carried out in Scotland. None have been positive.