Changes to maternity visiting
Further changes have been made to maternity visiting arrangements in Tayside to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Last week NHS Tayside outlined that pregnant women may have only one designated visitor to accompany them to their 12 and 20 week scans.
Also, if pregnant women cannot attend their antenatal appointments alone, then they should only bring one support person.
Pregnant women may have only one designated visitor/birth partner to accompany them in labour.
They may also have only one designated visitor to visit on the postnatal ward, with visiting times now between 1-6pm.
Designated visitors are to be the same person throughout each pregnancy journey and stay.
No children are allowed to be brought to appointments, labour or postnatal areas.
And in neonatal units the baby’s mother and only one other nominated visitor will be allowed in.
Interim chief midwife Lesley Sharkey said: “We ask that women and all support people wear face coverings, wash their hands regularly and if they have any symptoms of COVID-19 they must not to attend their appointment.
“We ask that you do not arrive for your scan or appointment more than five minutes before your allocated time.
“Changes have been made to our visiting times, however, if the midwife in charge of the shift assesses that there are too many visitors in one area, then people will be asked to leave for a period of time.
“We understand that these changes may not be easy for some people and we want to thank everyone again for their co-operation as we make changes to the maternity services.
“Our main priority is to maintain the safety of women, their families and our staff.”