Oaklan’s first portrait was taken the day he was born, which was during the Stay-at-Home order. His father stood in the window of their room in the new Summa Hospital maternity ward as he held his newborn son. While Oaklan perspective to offer, his parents (Michael and Trisha) remember this time well.
During the pandemic, many expecting parents were contemplating whether to opt for home birth rather than hospital births, due to health and safety concerns. “We didn’t want to be in the hospital, but when we actually were there, everything felt very safe and clean,” Michael said. “We saw maybe three people in the hospital. Even when we were admitted, you were not allowed to walk the halls without a guide, ensuring no additional risk of contact. Once I was there, I wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital until we were discharged.
We were very grateful for our midwife; she was our midwife for our first born as well. She was a great buffer between us and the medical staff, which was comforting. She knew us, advocated for us, had worked with us before, and was very aware of Trisha’s needs and birth plan.
Delivery was smooth and quicker than with the previous children. Within 24 hours, we were discharged. We got home in the afternoon, then Trisha experienced complications and had to go to the ER that night by herself. We didn’t know exactly what to do. Our one-day old son was now home without his mother who was nursing. I can’t remember exactly why, but we didn’t have formula from the hospital as an alternative. All of the stores were closed, because it was late at night at that point. It was nearly impossible to find a single place in town to buy formula. Thankfully, her complications were resolved within a day and she was able to return home.”
According to an article published by the National Medical Library, research showed that the maternity care response to the pandemic was non-standardized and frequently abandoned best‐practice guidelines. The findings of their study suggest that when health system functioning is threatened by a public health crisis, we fall short of optimal care.
To rectify this situation, the voices of childbearing people need to be systematically incorporated into care protocols and practices. This is an accepted cornerstone of high‐quality maternity care that, when overlooked, has been shown to cause dissatisfaction, harm, and underutilization of services.
Unfortunately, changes to maternity care practices during the pandemic were implemented largely without input from childbearing people. At times, this led to compromised and traumatizing care. Human rights violations that were documented during the pandemic include the following: refusing the right to a birth companion, interventions performed without medical reason (such as induction or cesarean section), enforced separation from the newborn without support for breastfeeding, inadequate personal protective equipment for health care workers and individuals seeking care, and limits or closure of decentralized community birth options. The priorities of childbearing people are not necessarily at the forefront of maternity care when health systems are functioning normally. During abrupt and widespread disruptions like the pandemic, this risk may have been amplified.
Michael thought back to 2020 and reflected. “The shutdown had its challenges with an infant, two-year-old and a four-year-old. The kids were bummed they couldn’t see anyone or do much of anything. Especially our oldest, with his outgoing personality. It was surprising to see how quickly they were able to adapt to safety protocols.
It was stressful with all of the unknowns. How long is it going to last? I was having constant anxiety about what this virus is, what it will be like if and when you get it. Especially because children were having such scary complications from the virus.
The good thing, though, was that we got to spend so much time together and were able to survive without being too disrupted with work and school, because I was working from home and the kids were not in school yet. We got to have this extra bit of family time. We were grateful for the extra time together."
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National Medical Library article
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9111370/#birt12616-bib-0027
June, 2020
Summit County Public Health