Chicago — COVID-19 affected pregnant and postpartum women during a pandemic.
The Illinois Public Health Service tracks the number of COVID-19-positive women at birth. According to the latest data, there were about 1,500 positive cases from March 2020 to March 2021.
Lake in the Hills Cali and Cody Belcher said they were blessed with a healthy and happy boy in August, when he was two years old in May. Kali Bercher is still very emotional today, as it was not an easy experience for her to become her mother. Both her and her husband tested positive for COVID-19 in the week leading up to delivery.
Due to restrictions at the time, she had to give birth to her first child alone while her husband was watching Facetime. She said he felt helpless.
Kari Belcher remembers a short moment before the nurse took her away from her in August. She couldn’t hug or care for him.
“I remember talking to him,” she said. “It was hard. When he left the room, he knew he couldn’t hear me anymore, so I wanted him to hear me.”
What doctors had to force in this early stage of the pandemic was a painstaking separation.
Dr. Lauren Carlos specializes in high-risk obstetrics at Winfield’s Northwestern Medical Central DuPage Hospital. She has been working in the area since August, but she started a pandemic at the University of Pittsburgh Women’s Hospital. So she remembered a particularly difficult case of a Covid patient in the ICU at 24 weeks gestation.
“We really worked hard to keep her pregnant for as long as possible,” Carlos said. “In the end, she wasn’t safe for her or her baby, so she had to give birth when she was completely sedated and transfer her ventilator to ECMO, a complete heart-lung machine. “
Fortunately, both the mother and the baby survived. Since then, we have covered similar cases in our area.
Back in September, WGN News met McHenry’s Donnel Kelly, his wife Samantha was fighting for her life at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital I wore a ventilator for about a month.
Doctors gave birth to his son Holden on an emergency caesarean section 32 weeks after Samantha was sedated.
Eventually, they were released, able to go home, and are now on track.
Then there was the Olesen family. Jessica and Jesse’s boy Jay were born on December 27th at the Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital in the 38th week. They knew that he needed surgery after birth because of an intestinal hernia and fluid in his brain.
Nine days later, before being transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital for surgery, Baby Jay tested positive for COVID-19 with a regular cotton swab.
Jessica Olesen did so too, and the doctor told her she had to leave Prentice Hospital, and don’t look at her baby for 10 days.
“Even hearing it was just painful,” she said.
“I sent my baby to the NICU, but my parents were infected with COVID and couldn’t visit my child for 10 days. This is very difficult. We protect all other premature babies. I’m trying. This is a tough situation, “says Carlos.
When it comes to pregnancy during a pandemic, stress seems to be at the expense.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, many couples consciously choose to delay childbirth.
Birth numbers in the United States have generally declined by about 2% annually since 2007. However, the United States saw the largest decline between 2019 and 2020, with births declining from 3.8 million to 3.6 million, a 4% decline.
The largest declines in births were in New York, California and New Mexico. Their births have decreased by 11%.
Work uncertainty and ongoing health concerns regarding COVID-19, why women choose to wait.
Pregnancy increases a woman’s risk of serious complications.
According to the CDC, symptomatic pregnant women are more than 2.5 times more likely to need ICU admission than non-pregnant women and are nearly 3 times more likely to wear a ventilator.
A global study by the TH Chan School of Public Health at Harvard found a major mental health crisis for pregnant and postpartum women.
About 7,000 women from 64 countries were surveyed online. Among them, 31% reported experiencing depression and anxiety compared to just 5% before the pandemic.
Forty-three percent also say they believe they have COVID-19-related post-traumatic stress disorders compared to just 6% three years ago.
About 86% of all women surveyed said they were somewhat or very worried about Covid.
A study that changed the policy of hospitals across the country and in Illinois.
“Ultimately, we started to take into account not only the risk of infection, but also the psychological risk of giving birth to a baby without a supporter nearby and not being able to bond with the baby for the first few days. “Carlos said.
Northwestern Medical Central DuPage Hospital currently allows two support personnel in the delivery room and does not separate COVID-19-positive mothers from their babies at birth.
Other resources
Empowered Therapy Co., Ltd.
A prosperous psychology group
MGH Center for Women Mental Health
Belchers is grateful for the changes in these policies. They want to have more kids, but like many Americans, they’re waiting until things get a little safer and postponing for now. But when they’re ready, they dream of something much different.
“It feels great to have a normal childbirth experience, take him to the room with me and pick up the kids to meet a new baby,” said Cali Bercher. rice field.
Doctors recommend that postnatal women suffering from anxiety and other mental health concerns seek counseling.
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Pandemics cause a decline in fertility rates for pregnant postpartum women and a mental health crisis
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