Having a baby during the pandemic? Marietta, GA newborn photographer, Casey McMinn Howard with Casey McMinn Photography, explains what it’s like to have a baby during the pandemic.
You’re pregnant and were in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Now what? Things are different now from when you had your last baby, or, for first time parents, different than you always imaged having your first child would be. But, that’s ok! Having just been through the process of having a baby during the pandemic (my son was born October 2020), I thought it’d be super helpful to share my experience this go around. As it was definitely different than when I had baby number 1 and 2, it was still amazing and there are more than one positive way to look at the “new” way of having a baby – during a pandemic!
So, here’s what to expect! This is all spoken from my experience in Atlanta, GA and will likely vary if you live elsewhere.
For starters, your partner and / or family members aren’t allowed to join you for your doctors appointments anymore. While I missed being able to bring my husband with me to the ultrasounds, there was a back up plan in place where the ultrasound technician will let you facetime your partner. The positive side? Thank God for technology! Your partner will still be able to join in on the ultrasound via Facetime. If the pandemic were a few decades prior to now, we would not have had this luxury.
At your doctor visits you’ll get your temperature taken upon arrival and you’ll have to wear a mask.
When it’s time to have the baby and you’re heading to the hospital, make sure you have your mask (you will be provided one if you forget yours) and don’t forget your bags. Check out my blog post on what to pack in your hospital bags here and here for help on that!
When you arrive at the hospital your temperature will be checked as well as your partner’s temperature.
When you get to your labor and delivery room you’ll get a rapid Covid test. I delivered at Northside Hospital in Atlanta and the rapid test that was given to me was in both nostrils and the results came back very quickly, of course.
Expect to wear your mask during the duration of your hospital experience. During labor, as well as during your stay after baby arrives. During your stay after baby arrives you’ll need to wear a mask whenever hospital personnel is in your room. Your partner will need to wear a mask too.
The only part about the whole experience that was very different to me was the fact that you aren’t allowed to have any visitors at the hospital. This was hard for me to think about because with the birth of my first and second children we had my family and my husband’s family at the hospital ready to see the baby the second they were born and also had visitors throughout our hospital stay to come see the new baby. While this concept seemed sad to me, I found out that it did have a huge plus side to it, and that plus side was that I was able to get a lot more rest, since I didn’t have so many visitors coming in and out of my hospital room. If you’ve had a baby before the pandemic you know the amount of visitors coming to see you, plus all the nurses in and out of your room equals literally zero sleep for you and trust me, you’re SO tired after having a baby. So, if anything positive came out of the hospital stay during a pandemic it was that I actually got little bits of sleep here and there!
I hope this helped you to see what your experience will be like having a baby during a pandemic. It was different, but honestly not that bad at all.
TO BOOK OR INQUIRE ABOUT A NEWBORN SHOOT WITH MARIETTA GA MATERNITY AND NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER CASEY MCMINN HOWARD, CLICK HERE
For outfit inspiration to get ideas on family outfits to wear to your newborn shoot click here
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