It is news that worries women around the world: More and more hospitals are no longer able to be accompanied because of the coronavirus during childbirth. Just last week, the hospitals in Leipzig announced that from now on, even the fathers will no longer be allowed to accompany the women to birth. The website of the Leipzig University Hospital reads:
Unfortunately, the measures had to be strengthened so that no accompanying person is now allowed to give birth.
Woman in New Jersey has baby in bathtub
An expectant mother has now made a violent decision in the US state of New Jersey. When the hospital understood that the father refused to attend the delivery, the woman decided to leave the hospital, reports "6abc.com". At that point, she thought the contractions had stopped.
Father helped with the birth
A short time later, the woman's contractions started and the woman finally gave birth to her child in the bathtub in her home. The child's father helped with the birth. After seven hours, on April 3, Erin Persia gave birth to her daughter in the bathtub. The little girl already has a name. The little girl is called Amelia Gracelyn Persia. "I noticed that my baby would be coming soon, so it was too late to call 911," says the new mom.
On the website of the hospital in question, there is currently a message from April 4 that a companion is admitted to birth. It is not known whether the bathtub was born due to a misunderstanding or whether this incident led to a change in the rules. The English website "babygaga.com" reports that, according to the hospital, it was a misunderstanding. The father was only asked to wait in the car until birth. Then the man should have followed.
"The women are desperate"
Luckily, according to the report, mother and child are doing well despite this daring action – and the father was able to be with his wife and baby at this important moment.
Nevertheless, this story should not be an example for other women, but rather should make it clear how much it can be stressful for expectant mothers and fathers if the woman is forced to give birth without a companion.
It is not for nothing that specialist associations in Germany have been criticizing such hospital decisions for weeks. The parent initiative "Mother Hood" strongly warns: "Desperate pregnant women and expectant fathers have been contacting us for days. Many women are afraid to the point of panic at the idea of not having to go through the birth of a child without a familiar person. "In addition to the emotional consequences, the prohibition of an accompanying person entails medical risks that must be avoided.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also explicitly points out the medical risks of inadequately accompanied births in a current information on Covid-19. There it says: "A self-chosen accompanying person needs a safe and positive birth experience during the birthAccording to the WHO, women should not be denied the right to do so even during the epidemic.
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