Babies Don’t Know There’s a Pandemic Going On

As an ObGyn in practice for 27 years, I am now delivering babies for women who had once been babies I delivered. As other ObGyns reminded me I was delivering “Grandbabies,” I began thinking about when it would be time to retire. I originally thought I would continue to do Obstetrics for 30 years. Now that I am older, Obstetrics is still fulfilling but is physically challenging.

Talking with my partners earlier this year, we realized it was time to shift our practice to Gyn only, but none of us predicted that in less than a month we would go from operating 2-3 days/week to doing no elective surgery so we could preserve supplies for the Covid-19 outbreak.

The only place in the hospital where nothing changed was Labor and Delivery. Babies are still coming into the world at all hours of the day and night. Nurses and doctors are still caring for these patients as we always have. Everywhere else in the hospital there is an eerie quiet. The OR’s are waiting, and the floors have been emptied, as we work together to prepare for the impending storm we know is on the way.

For a time, it was easy for us in L&D to forget that our world has drastically changed but then patients and health care providers began dying in the fight against Covid-19. Now, even in L&D, our patients are going through one of the most memorable experiences of their lives against the backdrop of physical and social distancing. We must limit visitors to only the support person who then cannot leave the hospital once they get there. Family members and grandparents are told they cannot and should not see the newborn to minimize risk of infection.

Despite all of that, the greatest experience for me has been delivering my patient’s baby and seeing the tears of joy and the smiles of everyone in the room when a Mom and Dad first see their newborn and hear the baby cry. Hope springs eternal and when I see that connection between Mom and baby, I feel that truth. Even though right now we can’t see the end of this crisis, bringing a new life into the world reminds us that this too shall end, and these babies will grow up loved by their families and will not remember the world as it is today.

This connection has helped me to remember that this crisis is not forever; life goes on. We may be experiencing the inconveniences of physical distancing and having to skip the gym, going out with friends or any other number of activities, but these mothers are bringing babies into a world of uncertainty with hope and grace. They see the future in their kids and are making the sacrifices necessary to stay safe. I’m honored to be in a specialty that traditionally has been a happy one and to know that even now we can still set our worries aside to care for our patients at a very intimate and positive time of their lives. Babies will still be born and we will still be there to take care of them and their moms, pandemic or not!