Hospitals bar partners from delivery rooms amid coronavirus pandemic
Two leading New York hospital networks barred spouses, partners and doulas from delivery rooms as the city’s coronavirus cases continue to soar.
TheNew York-Presbyterian hospital network announced Monday that it believes the measure is necessary in order to ensure the health and safety of mother and child, according to the change in the network’s visitation policy. The city’s Mount Sinai Health System also announced it would bar partners and other visitors from its labor and delivery rooms, beginning Tuesday.
New York-Presbyterian Network, where about 15,000 babies are born every year, implemented the changes two days after the New York State Department of Health issued guidance, stating one support person may be allowed in the delivery room during the coronavirus outbreak.
“For labor and delivery, the Department considers one support person essential to patient care throughout labor, delivery, and the immediate postpartum period. This person can be the patient’s spouse, partner, sibling, doula, or another person they choose,” the statement reads.
But as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases soar past 25,500 -- with more than 200 deaths -- in New York, the two hospital networks adopted more stringent guidelines.
Under normal circumstances, health experts do not recommend that partners and support persons be absent while a woman is in labor. The American College of Obstetricians Gynecologists recommends “continuous one-to-one emotional support provided by support personnel, such as a doula,” because it has shown to improve outcomes for women in labor.
Evidence suggests having a support person results in shortened labor, decreased need for pain medication, fewer cesarean sections and fewer reports of dissatisfaction with the experience of labor, according to the ACOG Committee Opinion from 2017.
A New-York City based doula created a chang.org petition to encourage the hospital networks to change their policies. As of Tuesday evening, over 330,000 people signed the petition, which has a goal of 500,00 signatures.
“The long term effects of these rules will long outlast the effects of the virus itself,” Jessica Pournaras, creator of the petition, said on the page.
