MUM WITH SICK BABY’S COVID RULES AGONY
Mum tells of agony over not being able to bond with sick baby boy in hospital
A MUM has told how she had to wait 78 days to kiss her gravely ill newborn baby because of strict Covid rules at hospital.
Rachel Brown gave birth to tiny Aston Smith 13 weeks early after she went into labour on the M80.
He was given a 50:50 chance of survival after developing a “flesheating bug” when he was 15 days old.
Rachel, 31, says strict mask-wearing rules created a “bonding barrier” and she didn’t get to kiss her 2lb 2oz son until the day he left hospital two-and-a-half months later.
She also feared Aston, who had part of his digestive tract removed to save him, would not learn to smile as everyone he saw had their mouths obscured by blue medical masks.
The mother of two, from Alva in Clackmannanshire, said: “I had to wear a mask all the time so it felt brilliant when I could actually be a normal parent, with no rules.
“He didn’t even know what my face looked like until then. Even sitting holding him skin-to-skin [in hospital], I couldn’t look down and see him properly because of the stupid mask. It was like a bonding barrier and added a whole different stress level to the situation.”
Rachel has written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to highlight issues faced by neonatal parents due to “harsh Covid rules”.
She said: “It feels like we were just left. Even his brother, who is seven, couldn’t understand how he wasn’t allowed in.
“Visitor restrictions also meant we had no support on the day Aston was potentially dying and [if he had died] no grandparents would have seen him alive.”
Aston is now 26 weeks old and thriving.
Rachel added: “It was brilliant to get him home but the first two nights he screamed blue murder as he wasn’t used to sleeping in the dark.
“In the end, I had to record episodes of Casualty and sleep downstairs with him with the light on as he was so used to hearing the beeping sounds in the hospital. “But now he’s such a happy baby. I thought he’d never smile as he’d only seen people with masks but even though he is so tiny, he knows how to laugh and smile – and always has a smile for the nurses. He’s perfect.” A Scottish Government spokesperson said the lifting of visiting restrictions would be a “phased process” but physical distancing and face masks would remain “for some time.” The family’s ordeal began when she went into labour on the M80 when she was just 27 weeks pregnant. Rachel was on her way home after being discharged from Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where she had spent four nights after suffering early contractions. She said: “We were driving when I went into full-blown labour. “Aston’s dad [William Smith, 35] said he’d pull over into a lay-by but I knew he’d need specialist help. We were between Glasgow and Larbert so drove to Larbert and four hours later he was born.”
I couldn’t see him properly because of the stupid mask