PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — For women who are pregnant during the pandemic, their birthing experience can be much different than expected.
We caught up with Emma Nathe, a Pasco County woman we first spoke to a few months ago about her concerns regarding the new COVID-19 hospital regulations for her upcoming birth.
A few weeks ago she delivered her son and says the experience was nothing like when she had her daughter.
“I didn’t realize they still make you jump through all those hoops though when your labor is happening that fast, like filling out paperwork and the COVID test while I was in active labor,” said Nathe.
She could only have one person in the room with her the entire time, so she had to call her doula over the phone to help her get through labor.
“The baby did end up going to the NICU. We were concerned about that with the visitation issues, the COVID policies,” said Nathe.
During the 48 hours that she was admitted to the hospital, Nathe says both she and her husband could see the baby, but once she was discharged only one parent could go.
“I just, I would’ve liked to have been able to be there with my husband,” said Nathe.
Instead, she had to drive herself, just three days postpartum, to see her son alone.
“I just didn’t think that was very fair. Especially since I could go home and see my husband in the evenings. So I’m not exactly sure how that protected the NICU or anything from any additional exposures or infection or whatever," she said. "It is what it is. It just was not what I pictured homecoming with a baby being like.”
