Pandemic Life: Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond

Written By Jasmine Stuverud
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The busiest season of my doula career to date was from January-March 2020, right before the entire world turned upside down.


I remember clients asking me why they suddenly were being asked strange questions at their OB appointments. I remember that each birth I attended I felt a little more tension from the staff, and more wariness of visitors to the labor and postpartum rooms. With each visit to the hospital, things really began to shift...suddenly some doulas were not allowed, masks were required everywhere, and words like “separation” were floating around.


As a doula, I know the importance of staying up to date on the latest evidence-based practices, studies, and information for my clients. I think deep down, every birth worker is a huge science geek. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the sudden necessity to not only be aware of what policies are in place in our healthcare system, but also how they impact public health, and the day to day life of pregnant, birthing, and parenting people.


How would this virus affect pregnant people? And babes? What options do we have within this evolving public health emergency? These were some of the questions I was getting from clients at the start.


Meetings shifted from in person to Zoom. It became just partner and doula in the birth room. But what about day-to-day life of being pregnant while the world is reeling?


I first and foremost want families to try and remember that their pregnancy and birth is still thiers. It may feel like the virus, the hospital, our extended family, the fears and uncertainties want to take that away. But the choices, the power, and the experience of growing and birthing your baby is still yours.


Maybe you imagined your birth room full of aunties and grandparents and friends. Maybe you feel relieved that you don’t have to be the one to communicate that your mother-in-law isn’t invited to your labor. Maybe you feel the need to mourn, get angry, crumple under all the decisions and changes to navigate. Maybe you feel blindsided by all the things. 



Here are some thoughts about pandemic life during the childbearing year:


  • Depending on where you give birth, most facilities (hospitals and birth centers) are only allowing two healthy (showing no symptoms of COVID-19)  support people to be with you during labor. Many hospitals limit postpartum and post-cesarean recovery rooms to just one visitor. There are sometimes not in-and-out privileges, so more important than ever to pack your birth bag with everything you’ll need, including lots of snacks, comfort items, and even some frozen/refrigerated meals you can heat up yourself.


  • Out of hospital midwives here in Bellingham are not currently offering home births, but that may change at any point, depending on the local COVID climate. Check with your midwife.


  • If you are giving birth in the hospital, chances are you will receive a COVID19 PCR (nose swab) test before you are brought to your room. This usually takes place in triage. It depends hospital to hospital whether they allow support people there with you. They will ask you to keep a mask on. Check with your provider about the hospital’s current policy as  they are frequently changing. If you want to decline the test, it’s best to chat with your provider about what that could mean for how your care looks


  • If you do happen to test positive, the hospital staff will bring you to a different room than the normal labor and delivery rooms. I won’t lie and say this won’t change the energy of the room, ie, how the nurses behave, how they act with your baby, what procedures they recommend etc. Remember, this is still your birth! You can say no to any of the procedures they may want you to do. It’s your right to ask for more time, ask about risks and benefits, and talk about alternatives.


  • There has been a lot of talk since the pandemic began about weighing the risk vs. benefit of separating COVID-positive birthing people and their babes. Even with the risk of transmission of the virus, it has still been shown that rooming in with your infant has substantially more benefits. Human milk contains antibodies from the lactating person’s body, which act as a baby’s first immune system to their surrounding world. Evidence also shows that risk of transmission to your baby is actually lower than expected, if protective measures are put into place (hand washing, mask wearing, etc). At the end of this post, I’ll share where that information comes from. I’ll also share a sample consent form to refuse separation of you and baby. It may be something you choose to fill out while you make your birth plan, and have it ready in case you test positive at the hospital


  • The care protocols within this pandemic that have become politicized (mask wearing, distancing, the choice to vaccinate or not, etc) are hotly debated in the U.S. and worldwide. Some studies have confirmed that pregnant people are at a higher risk for severe COVID-19, and are hospitalized at a higher rate. It has been linked to preterm birth and SGA (small for gestational age). I will include a couple of studies at the end of this post.


  • The choice to be vaccinated or not is entirely yours. There are currently trials being done with both of the mRNA vaccines approved for emergency use in this country, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Before this, pregnant and lactating folks were left out of clinical trials. This poses a challenging dilemma for people considering the vaccine. Your provider may encourage you to get vaccinated, or to wait. There are many nuances within this decision, and it’s important for you to do what is best to keep you and your family healthy. I’m daily checking for the latest information on pregnancy and COVID-19 vaccines (science geek, remember?) and will post what I find here.


  • This is a tough time. Like really, really hard. Babies are meeting their grandparents from a distance, people are changing aspects of their birth plan, baby showers are on Zoom or very small, and maybe we’re wondering when our babies will get to see people’s uncovered smiles out in the world. As much as this is a real, physical thing happening, there are also many layers of emotional and mental stress going on. Now is the time to practice going very slowly. Being gentle with yourself as you navigate everything. It is absolutely okay to give yourself all the slack, take breaks frequently, because growing a baby, pandemic or not, is hard work. Giving birth is hard work. And parenting is hard work that requires many hands, and many hearts. The absence of a village is a particularly sharp ache right now, playing out against the backdrop of the cultural isolation many parents already experience. Political lines within families are also being drawn deeply. The grief can be big. This is the time to utilize resources like Perinatal Support Washington, talk with a trusted friend or your doula, join a parent’s group, or look into starting a relationship with a counselor if you haven’t already. We are all at our capacity and then some. Remember you aren’t in this alone.


  • This pandemic in its wake is exposing the deeply immoral, inequitable and unstable foundation of the US and beyond. COVID-19 is affecting Black and Indigenous people at much higher rates than white people, with higher rates of hospitalization and deaths. In a country already being ravaged by an epidemic of racism, COVID-19 has brought a cold, hard look and call to action about these insidious disparities in our healthcare system. When we hear of these statistics, we shouldn’t go numb and let them fade into all of the other heartbreaking numbers we hear every day. We should instead look at how we can change the outcomes and policies that further harm and marginalize BIPOC. We shoudl hold our providers, local governments, and peers accountable. For anyone reading this who is experiencing this first hand, I see you. I hear you. You are not alone. There are some amazing resources available to help families cope and connect with other families during this pandemic within a pandemic. 


For continuing conversation or resource sharing, please reach out if you’d like! I’m here for this in body, mind and spirit. In exhaustion, concern, and impatience. In hope, care, and the quest for truthful information. I’m here for the generation that will be known as the Coronials, who will carry with them unique skills and tendencies, and will hopefully look back and say with confidence “wow, my parents did that!”


I’m here not only as a doula, but as someone who also walked the journey of pregnancy and birth and postpartum during the thick of this pandemic. 


Here are the resources I mentioned:






Jasmine Stuverud

I’m a full-spectrum doula living and serving in Bellingham, WA (Lummi territory). I offer birth, postpartum, counseling, and pregnancy loss support. I love engaging in meaningful conversations around birth and reproductive justice. When not supporting families, you can find me spending time with my baby son, crafting, and studying Persian language. 

https://www.manymoonsbirth.com
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