Childbirth and COVID-19: Keeping Expecting Mothers and Newborns Safe at WVMC
June 17, 2020
Pregnancy always comes with its share of anxiety and fear, but the COVID-19 pandemic has added a new layer of concerns for expecting families. If you will be delivering a baby during the pandemic, you likely have many questions about how delivery in the hospital may be different right now and how you can keep yourself and your baby healthy.
Willamette Valley Medical Center (WVMC) has always taken great pride in caring for expecting mothers and their babies and making sure that our community has access to great OB care. This dedication to our region’s growing families has continued throughout the pandemic and will go on long after this health crisis has passed.
We are committed to making sure that all moms and babies have the safest birthing experience possible, and we are taking every necessary precaution to protect our families in labor and delivery from exposure to COVID-19 and ensure the risk of infection expecting mothers and new babies is extremely low. Our extra precautions mean that some aspects of delivery will be as expected, but some may be a little different. The two main changes most families will experience are visitor restrictions and limited entry points to the hospital.
As part of our COVID-19 preparedness efforts, we have moved to a limited-visitor protocol hospital-wide. Laboring and postpartum mothers may have two healthy visitors per day with them for their delivery and the duration of their hospital stay. This means mothers will be able to have support for as long as they are in the hospital, but visits with the whole family will have to wait until mom and baby leave the hospital.
Our COVID-19 preparedness efforts also have limited entry to the hospital, closing some of our typical entrances. However, expecting mothers should continue to plan to access the Family Birthing Center through the dedicated entrance behind the hospital.
Additional measures WVMC is taking to support and ensure the safety of our expecting mothers and newborns include:
- Prenatal and childbirth education classes resuming in July.
- Tours of the maternity unit for first-time expecting mothers.
- COVID testing and/or illness screening for all OB patients on day of admission or beforehand for scheduled deliveries.
- PPE available for laboring and postpartum mothers.
- Limited access to food services; patients are encouraged to bring their own food and snacks.
- Early discharges (24 hours vaginal and 48 hours cesarean), as long as mom and baby are doing well.
- Remote or in-person lactation support.
These measures have been implemented with great care, and we will continue to update them with the health and safety of our expecting mothers and families in mind.
In a time of uncertainty, the one thing all of our expecting families can be sure of is that our experienced OB staff members stand ready to help you on your journey to bring new life into the world. We are here to support you and keep you safe – today and every day the future holds.
You can find more information about COVID-19 and how WVMC is responding by visiting Coronavirus (COVID-19) Preparedness Information or by contacting your care provider. You can also find answers to commons questions related to pregnancy and COVID-19 by visiting our COVID-19 Pregnancy FAQ.