Keeping Expecting Moms Safe During the COVID-19 Crisis

Adventist Health is dedicated to the health of expecting mothers and babies. A vital part of staying healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic is staying informed.

Your safety is our top priority

If you are planning to give birth in our hospital, we want to reassure you that we are taking every possible precaution for the safety of you and your baby.

To ensure the safety of you, your baby and our caregivers, we are taking extra steps to protect you:

All patients and your visitor are screened upon entry and again during their stay.
All patients and your visitor are provided with face masks and are required to wear the masks whenever the provider is in the room.
Our providers are required to wear face masks.
Delivery patients displaying symptoms of COVID-19 are checked into labor and delivery rooms located away from other labor and delivery rooms upon arrival.
Common areas of our sites of care are disinfected frequently and thoroughly.

Reach out to your provider if you have any questions about our safety precautions.

Visitor restrictions

In order to protect you and your baby, we have temporary visitor restrictions in place for labor and delivery (L&D), maternity and the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we’re limiting the number of visitors allowed during and after your baby’s birth. At this time, mothers with a COVID negative status can have one healthy adult stay during labor, delivery and postpartum. The visitor must be the same person every day. For example, dad can’t go home and then have grandma take his place. Likewise, the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) will only allow parents or assigned guardians. Unfortunately, this means that COVID positive mothers will not be allowed visitors.

Any visitor showing symptoms of COVID-19 or those who do not pass the screening will be asked to leave the hospital.

These changes to our visitation policy will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases and protect the health of all of our patients and caregivers. We understand that this is frustrating and inconvenient, but we assure you that you and your family will have proper support while these restrictions are in place.

Contacting your friends and family during your stay

We will have a tablet device available in your room equipped with FaceTime and Skype. You can video chat with your loved ones who aren’t able to visit during your stay. Please be sure to have your Apple ID or Skype ID available. If you don’t have an Apple ID or a Skype account, these apps will prompt you to create an account using your email address. Set up is easy and only takes a few minutes.

After your baby is born

We understand that you’ll probably have just as many questions after delivery as you did before. Below are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions.

Newborn risk and COVID-19

Babies are a high-risk group for infectious diseases of all kinds, not just COVID-19. Rest assured that your newborn will receive the same exceptional care at our hospital to keep them healthy — in addition to the extra precautions in place during this situation.
Since COVID-19 is a novel disease, there isn’t a lot of research on how it may affect pregnancies. There’s currently no evidence to suggest that an infected mother would give birth to an infected child.

Breastfeeding and COVID-19

There’s currently no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 can be transmitted through breast milk.

If you suspect that you’re developing symptoms of COVID-19, isolate yourself and call your provider. You can pump and have a healthy family member feed your baby until you’re sure of your condition.

Visitors from friend and family after you go home

Even people who don’t show symptoms of COVID-19 may carry the disease and can pass it along to you and your family. To keep your newborn as safe as possible, it’s in your best interest to hold a virtual visitation. That way your loved ones can meet your newest addition without exposing your baby to risk.

Skin-to-skin contact and COVID-19

The safety and health of our moms, babies and families remain our highest priority during this time. We continue to follow recommendations provided by the CDC on infection prevention and control guidance. At this time, we do not recommend skin-to-skin contact for symptomatic or COVID-19 positive mothers. In these situations, we recommend stabilization of the newborn and an immediate bath to help prevent potential spread.

If no other healthy adult is present in the room to care for the baby, a mother who is COVID-19 positive or has been experiencing symptoms should put on a face mask and practice hand hygiene before each feeding or other close contact with her newborn. The face mask should remain in place during all contact with the newborn.

Protecting your baby at home

Once the baby is home, any members of the family who are sick should remain separate from the baby and follow home isolation precautions. If the mother is feeling unwell, another healthy adult in the household should care for the baby, including feeding the baby expressed breastmilk. Home isolation and separation precautions should continue until the unwell individual has been symptom free for 7-10 days and/or without fever for 72 hours without taking medication to reduce fever. If the mother is feeling unwell and another caretaker is not available, the mother should cover her nose and mouth with a face mask or a scarf and practice hand hygiene before each interaction.