Grans could face BAN from maternity units

RELATIVES and friends could be banned from maternity wards in an effort to promote bonding between mothers and babies.

New mothers traditionally receive lots of visitors in hospital, with excited grandparents often first through the door.

However, friends and relatives might in future have to wait a little longer for their first cuddle with the new arrival.

Limiting visitors – to partners and the baby’s siblings – could help women rest after giving birth, as well as boosting breastfeeding and bonding, a report suggests.

At the height of the pandemic, the threat of infection meant hospital visits were banned or severely limited.

According to staff interviewed for a Public Health Scotland (PHS) study on the impact of Covid-19 on maternity services, the restriction on the number of visitors to post-natal wards had benefits for both mothers and babies.

The study authors said: ‘A very strong theme from staff was the impression that allowing only partners and baby’s siblings to attend the postnatal wards would lead to improved maternal and infant outcomes based upon their pandemic experience.’

They added: ‘Many women described more calm environments, women interacting with each other, being able to focus on bonding and breastfeeding due to having fewer visitors.’

More than 2,500 women and 445 staff were quizzed for the PHS study on their care during the pandemic by researchers from Aberdeen University, Dundee University and the Scottish Improvement Science Collaborating Centre, a research body.

Women reported that not being allowed a partner with them for appointments and scans – due to Covid restrictions – was ‘a major source of anxiety’. Asked about their post-natal experience, almost three-quarters (73 per cent) thought they should have been able to have their birth partner with them more frequently.

But when they were asked about other relatives, fewer than onefifth (18 per cent) of women said friends and family should have been allowed to visit more often.

In contrast, 28 per cent ‘enjoyed the peace and quiet’ and 31 per cent said the lack of visitors meant they ‘could give their baby their full attention’. The paper cautions that ‘it is not clear whether women would support restrictions on visitors to the post-natal ward in future’. And on retaining or scrapping pandemic-related maternity unit changes, the report authors said further research was needed.

They added: ‘Given the very strong sense from maternity staff that restricted visiting has extensive benefits to women and babies, future research should explore women’s thoughts on restricting postnatal ward visiting to partners and baby’s siblings only.’