Born during a pandemic
When Carson Dickie looks back at his baby record book in years to come he will read he had no visitors in hospital, nor any to welcome him home.
But it’s not to say the Taranaki lad didn’t have a team of people desperate to meet him: it was just one consequence of being born amid the coronavirus pandemic.
‘‘It really brought it home when I was filling out his book,’’ mum Lydia Dickinson said of her first born being delivered in an unprecedented time.
‘‘We’ll keep newspaper cuttings and the Covid-19 flyer that came in the mail the other day so he can understand what went on.’’
Carson arrived by caesarean section on April 1 at Taranaki Base Hospital, which, like all hospitals nationwide, is temporarily operating under a strict no visitors policy.
There are a few exceptions, including in the labour and maternity wards where mothers are allowed one support person.
That meant Dickinson’s fiance, Shaun Dickie, was able to attend his son’s birth and visit the ‘‘quiet’’ maternity wing.
The three have now formed an isolation ‘bubble’ at their Bell Block home.
Carson’s grandparents were naturally pretty keen to meet him, but for now they’ve only been able to do so through video messaging.
‘‘It’s just a case of working with what you’ve got,’’ Lydia said. ‘‘But they’re doing it tough.’’
It was difficult for her, too, not having her mother or mother-inlaw involved from the early stages. But isolation also had its positives.
The trio have bonded as a new family and Lydia has been able to rest and heal from the surgery.
‘‘And we get to just work it all out for ourselves,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s one hundred per cent time dedicated to Carson. We’re not interrupted with visitors.’’
Right now, the only additional person allowed at the house is Lydia’s midwife, and even those visits are, when possible, done at a distance.
‘‘There’s no coffees or cups of tea. It’s get the business done and move on.
‘‘We’re very cautious of her [the midwife’s] wellbeing as well.’’
New mothers across the country are experiencing similar appointments as maternity care is ‘‘a little different’’ at present, midwifery advisor Jacqui Anderson, of New Zealand College of Midwives, said.
Midwives have reduced contact time, antenatal and postnatal appointments are being held virtually and ‘‘short’’ physical assessments are done in person only when necessary.
If a pregnant woman has been diagnosed with Covid-19 or is at risk of having it, protective equipment is worn by the midwife and mother.
These women have also been asked to give birth at hospital, Anderson said.
‘‘For many of those women, they will still have their midwife with them, but some of the hospitals are asking the midwives not to attend and they will take good care of the women and baby.
‘‘They want the midwives out in the community to be able to provide that service.’’
But where the women are well, midwives are a part of the labour process as usual.
Anderson said some mothers were concerned about going to hospital amid the coronavirus crisis and were asking to leave soon after birth, while some maternity facilities had limited the length of a mother’s stay.
It was a scary and uncertain time for families and midwives, Anderson said.
‘‘But actually it’s still pretty marvellous that, no matter what, babies keep coming.’’