Speaker 1: Who baby, my baby beloved and need you, Oh how
Speaker 1: I need you? What do you expect? As a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio, I'm your host Heidi Murkoff and
Speaker 1: I'm a mom on a mission, a mission to help
Speaker 1: you know what to expect every step of the way.
Speaker 1: Pregnancy and childbirth and bringing a brand new bundle into
Speaker 1: the world and then home from the hospital comes with questions,
Speaker 1: lots and lots and lots of questions. Add a pandemic
Speaker 1: to the mix, and those questions multiply fast. Pregnancy during
Speaker 1: the time of COVID comes with a whole new set
Speaker 1: of questions and concerns, a whole new set of challenges,
Speaker 1: even a reimagined model of care, and a very different experience.
Speaker 1: From changes in standard prenatal visits to changes in your
Speaker 1: guest less in the birthing room, from attending your childbirth
Speaker 1: classes via zoom to getting your due support on FaceTime.
Speaker 1: It's a whole new normal for pregnant moms and their partners.
Speaker 1: Not to mention the grandparents waiting not so patiently in
Speaker 1: the quarantine wings for their first snuggles with baby. Is
Speaker 1: that new normal here to stay? Is it likely to
Speaker 1: change over the months to come well, pregnancy and childbirth
Speaker 1: and for that matter, parenting ever, go back to well normal.
Speaker 1: Today we're going to find out what you can expect
Speaker 1: when you're expecting during a pandemic. I am here with
Speaker 1: my good friend and go to Obie. That is, I
Speaker 1: definitely go to her if I ever needed an Obie again.
Speaker 1: Maternal fetal medicine specialist Dr Sarah Baton, who is a
Speaker 1: medical director of Mother to Baby Florida and Assistant professor
Speaker 1: at the University of South Florida. Hey, Sarah, are you
Speaker 1: doing Hi? Thank you for having me. Oh, I'm so
Speaker 1: happy you're here because we need you now more than ever.
Speaker 1: How are you? How are you doing? Like? How is
Speaker 1: life practicing during a pandemic? Well, it's hard. It's busy.
Speaker 1: We are busier than we ever worth. Life is harder
Speaker 1: and more challenging, um at times more interesting. Right, Juggling
Speaker 1: family life and medical life work is tough, but we're
Speaker 1: doing it with some great colleagues here. So what are
Speaker 1: the biggest concerns that you're hearing from your patients since
Speaker 1: the pandemic started. Well, it's hard for everybody, our patients included.
Speaker 1: Being pregnant is hard. There's so many challenges to overcome,
Speaker 1: so many differences in our bodies and and things to
Speaker 1: worry about. The worrying about the pandemic is just so
Speaker 1: much at its stress. The stress level has certainly gone
Speaker 1: up in our patients. Now. We've been talking to what
Speaker 1: to expect moms about how COVID nineteen is an impacting
Speaker 1: their pregnancy since the pandemic started. It and some things
Speaker 1: have changed, some things have stayed the same, and lots
Speaker 1: and lots of things are still unknown. And what I
Speaker 1: love about your advice, besides the fact that it's reassuring
Speaker 1: and reasoned, which is my favorite kind of advice, is
Speaker 1: that you're always first to say that we don't know
Speaker 1: what we don't know, and at this point in the
Speaker 1: pandemic that is still a lot. So the pregnant immune
Speaker 1: system is slightly compromise, and that's normal, but a lot
Speaker 1: of moms are wondering if that puts them at greater
Speaker 1: risk for contracting COVID nineteen, And if it puts them
Speaker 1: at greater risk if they do contract it, are they
Speaker 1: more likely to be hospitalized as they are with seasonal flu? Yeah,
Speaker 1: great question. So that has changed a little bit through
Speaker 1: the pandemic time and the CDC had come out with
Speaker 1: some different burbage on that, meaning that initially we didn't
Speaker 1: think it was as tough for our patients, but we
Speaker 1: didn't know as much. Now, knowing from the history from
Speaker 1: stars and prior mers, we knew that this would be
Speaker 1: a higher risk, but we didn't have the evidence for that,
Speaker 1: And it turns out that it is more risky for
Speaker 1: patients who are pregnant again, possibly because of the immune
Speaker 1: system changes. Um the question that becomes, well, how risky
Speaker 1: and how much does that impact the pregnancy, and that
Speaker 1: is still where the data is being hashed out through time. Also,
Speaker 1: the effects in the first trimester versus second and third
Speaker 1: trimester are changing, But overall we are telling our patients
Speaker 1: that they absolutely have to take care of themselves and
Speaker 1: their families that will then in turn and take care
Speaker 1: of them while they are pregnant. Other ways that a
Speaker 1: mom can boost her immune systems so that she's less
Speaker 1: likely to get sick and have a more severe case.
Speaker 1: This is at times where the simple things matter most, right,
Speaker 1: So getting a decent amount of sleep that is always important,
Speaker 1: that is good for so many functions of our body
Speaker 1: and immunity as well taking care of yourself wearing a
Speaker 1: mask and being socially distanced, making sure that your family
Speaker 1: is socially distanced, making sure that you eat a healthy diet,
Speaker 1: take your nutrients through your food and your prenatal vitamin.
Speaker 1: Other than those things, that really isn't a magic bullet.
Speaker 1: I mean the classic things of hand washing and masking
Speaker 1: is the best thing that you can do for yourself.
Speaker 1: And we should still stay away from supplements that have
Speaker 1: not been recommended by Europe or midwife. Yeah, that's the
Speaker 1: thing is that the supplements. We are a society that
Speaker 1: would love to just have a pill that's going to
Speaker 1: take care of so many things, right, but it's it's
Speaker 1: not like that. I mean, a healthy lifestyle and healthy
Speaker 1: diet and getting enough rest is where we're at right now.
Speaker 1: We don't have enough data on supplements there. So there
Speaker 1: are some pre existing conditions and complications of pregnancy that
Speaker 1: put moms at a generally greater risk. And what would
Speaker 1: those include? Things like obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, comorbid
Speaker 1: conditions that make pregnancy any way more high risk, will
Speaker 1: make us more high risk during a pandemic. Uh, those
Speaker 1: are the things that I come off right at that
Speaker 1: maybe some other immuno logic disorders for a pregnant mom,
Speaker 1: which in those patients it's even more important how they
Speaker 1: take care of themselves. And when you say obesity, do
Speaker 1: you mean coming into pregnancy obese, not as much gaining
Speaker 1: a lot of weight during pregnancy. Yes, well, both are
Speaker 1: really important for a good pregnancy outcome. We know that
Speaker 1: significant weighty during pregnancy has higher rates of c sections,
Speaker 1: higher risk of gestational diabetes which may increase those risks,
Speaker 1: and pandemic as well. But certainly pre gestational weight is
Speaker 1: very important here as well. So you should be also
Speaker 1: getting your exercise as you can and as recommended. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: we do think movement is very good in pregnancy in general.
Speaker 1: We are not saying to go on the weight lush
Speaker 1: or any during your pregnancy, but actually some movements, some
Speaker 1: very small weights, if you have that discussion with your
Speaker 1: healthcare provider. I think it is very good for the
Speaker 1: good pregnancy outcomes. Yeah, and it's great for your immune
Speaker 1: system and gives you those endorphins, those happy hormones that
Speaker 1: make you feel better overall. So brown and black moms
Speaker 1: seemed to be facing a higher rate of infection and
Speaker 1: a higher rate of severe illness. Some of that due
Speaker 1: to higher rates of those comorbidities that you were talking about,
Speaker 1: like hypertension, gestational diabetes, but also due to racial disparities
Speaker 1: in care, something that we haven't talked enough about but
Speaker 1: really really need to. So should moms of color be
Speaker 1: more alert to symptoms of COVID and what can we
Speaker 1: do to reduce those disparities? Yes, I love the nationally
Speaker 1: we are doing a little bit of a better job
Speaker 1: of talking about this, and we should push this and
Speaker 1: push this to the forefront because we do know our
Speaker 1: moms of color are suffering more and that should not
Speaker 1: be the case. There has been too long of a
Speaker 1: discussion to minimize that or to say it's because of
Speaker 1: something else genetics. It's ridiculous. We really need to take
Speaker 1: care of all of our moms. Now, you're right, I
Speaker 1: mean one of the things that this is not a
Speaker 1: one There's not a magic wood that's going to fix
Speaker 1: all of this, right, This comes from multifaceted problem and
Speaker 1: therefore multifaceted solution. I think. So, I think moms need
Speaker 1: to be their own strong advocate to know what they
Speaker 1: believe and if they have symptoms to always feel to
Speaker 1: need to speak up and people are not listening to you,
Speaker 1: go somewhere else. I think us as physicians we have
Speaker 1: to be better about really listening to our patients. There
Speaker 1: are so much data on just women being different than men.
Speaker 1: Are symptoms. For example, for our heart attack are different
Speaker 1: than men. We need to pay attention to that, right.
Speaker 1: Our pregnant patients are different, are different, moms are different.
Speaker 1: So not listening to concerns is a big one. But
Speaker 1: this is again a multi past of problem that needs
Speaker 1: institution wide changes and protocols that are put into place,
Speaker 1: which are now being done across the US, and hopefully
Speaker 1: we can push more through our big institutions and also
Speaker 1: through our big bodies where like a COG and SMFM
Speaker 1: that are putting things on the forefront there. So personally,
Speaker 1: what women should do is really fight for what they
Speaker 1: have in terms of their symptoms and make sure that
Speaker 1: they're being heard, because a mom knows her body better
Speaker 1: than anyone else. Yes, it's a great Many of the
Speaker 1: symptoms of COVID nineteen seem to be at least somewhat
Speaker 1: similar to those of normal pregnancy symptoms, so lots of
Speaker 1: moms get a cough when they're pregnant, especially at night,
Speaker 1: or feel shortness of breaths, or have stuffy noses. So
Speaker 1: how do you tell the difference? Is the line blurred?
Speaker 1: Lines are definitely blurred because those symptoms, if you've think
Speaker 1: about it, are hard to tease out of their pregnancy
Speaker 1: or they're just a common cold or their allergies or
Speaker 1: asthma or COVID. So it makes things very challenging, especially
Speaker 1: in lieu of that. Some patients have no symptoms. Some
Speaker 1: patients have very varied types of symptoms, so it is
Speaker 1: it's hard, and so if we have any kind of inkling,
Speaker 1: any one of those things come up, we have those
Speaker 1: patients tested. And you'll find more and more that a
Speaker 1: lot of labor and delivery units are testing all patients
Speaker 1: who are coming into labor and delivery, and that's for
Speaker 1: a different reason. It's not only protect you as the patient,
Speaker 1: but also the healthcare providers and making sure that you
Speaker 1: are COVID negative and give you the appropriate treatment. So
Speaker 1: what do we know about the risk to babies. We
Speaker 1: don't know as much as we'd like to at this
Speaker 1: point about the risk of a mom having contracted COVID
Speaker 1: during her pregnancy, whether it's early or later on exactly.
Speaker 1: We still don't have all the information we would like
Speaker 1: for sure, and we're hoping for more even by this time.
Speaker 1: But there is a potential that there is some transfer
Speaker 1: of the virus. The question is, let's say the viral
Speaker 1: particles are there. The question then becomes what effect could
Speaker 1: that have on the fetus and then babies later on.
Speaker 1: That's the stuff that we don't really understand quite well.
Speaker 1: So even if it does pass, if that's a possibility,
Speaker 1: what will be effect eventually be Could it possibly be
Speaker 1: that they have antibodies of some kind. It's possible it
Speaker 1: might be in the sense that I may try to
Speaker 1: be helpful, But of course we're always worried about the
Speaker 1: negative equit its final growth restriction, anything like this. You know,
Speaker 1: we were so worried about ZEKA and first trimester effects
Speaker 1: of general nonalies all that we don't see that at
Speaker 1: this time. Those are all the things that we're watching
Speaker 1: out for in the months to come. When we come back,
Speaker 1: we're telling you what to expect when it comes suprenatal
Speaker 1: care during the pandemic. I'm back with Maternal fetal medicine
Speaker 1: specialist Dr Sarah Obaton talking about pregnancy and COVID nineteen.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about what pregnant women should expect when it
Speaker 1: comes to their care. Clearly there have been more virutual visits.
Speaker 1: How has prenatal care and screening changed? And do you
Speaker 1: think there are benefits of telemedicine when it comes to
Speaker 1: prenatal care or more risks or a little bit of both.
Speaker 1: I think if it's done well, telemedicine it could be
Speaker 1: an incredible asset to maternal care. The question is how
Speaker 1: it's being done. Every office is different, every part of
Speaker 1: the country is different, depending on what are the numbers
Speaker 1: in the community. But I think tell medicine can be
Speaker 1: helpful if it's done correctly, meaning you're able to see
Speaker 1: your patients maybe sooner than you could otherwise. It helps
Speaker 1: patients do not have to drive in, they don't have
Speaker 1: to get a ride, they don't have to struggle through
Speaker 1: the traffic. You know, if they're even at work but
Speaker 1: they can't leave work, they can go always somewhere for
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes and talk to the doctor. There's so many
Speaker 1: things that are helpful. I think in that scenario, the
Speaker 1: worries sometimes becomes us are we going to miss something? Right?
Speaker 1: I can't do a physical exam for a patient, even
Speaker 1: though I see them and I can assess a little
Speaker 1: bit of how they're doing, I may not have some
Speaker 1: of those clinical parameters like how is the blood pressure,
Speaker 1: how is the patient swelling? You know, those kind of things.
Speaker 1: If we are able to provide models with a blood
Speaker 1: pressure cuff, for example, or a way for them to
Speaker 1: let's say, dip their urine for proteins, some of those things,
Speaker 1: those may be really helpful in taking care of even
Speaker 1: some of our hard risk patients. I think you've done
Speaker 1: well in the combined model. It works exceptionally well. So
Speaker 1: is that something you're doing. Are you providing the dipsticks
Speaker 1: and blood pressure cuff? Yes, when feasible for patients, we
Speaker 1: do give blood pressure cuffs for that evaluation at home,
Speaker 1: but you you've done that previously too, for higher risk patients.
Speaker 1: For our lowrist patients we still don't have that. We
Speaker 1: still have them come in maybe every second or third visit.
Speaker 1: But for our higher risk patients, I think that's very helpful.
Speaker 1: How can we keep dads more involved in the process,
Speaker 1: even though they're often being left out of screenings or appointments.
Speaker 1: That's hard, right, It's hard to get um a family
Speaker 1: member with you to some of those appointments, and that's
Speaker 1: done in order to protect the rest of our patients
Speaker 1: and the healthcare providers are snographers who are taking care
Speaker 1: of all these patients every day. It's tough. Sometimes We
Speaker 1: allow our patients to well in our unit. We allow
Speaker 1: our patients to FaceTime, the dads to be able to
Speaker 1: see the baby, to be present for some of those
Speaker 1: really crucial conversations with our patients. We obviously allow them
Speaker 1: in the hospital for timing of delivery and other surgeries
Speaker 1: that are needed, but it is significantly less. They are
Speaker 1: a little bit more marginalized than we would like because
Speaker 1: we like the dads to be involved if they can.
Speaker 1: It is a strong but we are looking at all
Speaker 1: these different I T modalities that we can get patients
Speaker 1: more involved, but it is definitely hard for the months.
Speaker 1: I guess when they're having their virtual visit at home,
Speaker 1: then he can be there, so that's a plus. Potentially
Speaker 1: it is a plus. And I do have a lot
Speaker 1: of dad's join in now for those virtual visits, which
Speaker 1: is really nice. Even if we're when we're not doing ultrason.
Speaker 1: We're doing this online. It's fantastic to see them actually
Speaker 1: present with their wife, and then they're able to ask questions,
Speaker 1: which inevitably I find ads asked as many questions as
Speaker 1: moms do. Sometimes they're more scared than the months. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's true. Well it's not happening in their bodies, so
Speaker 1: they worry more about not having control. What about routine vaccines?
Speaker 1: This is vaccination awareness months too, so super important time
Speaker 1: to be talking about it. The te tap and the
Speaker 1: flu vaccine are super important during any pregnancy. You know,
Speaker 1: if you're going to be pregnant during flu season, why
Speaker 1: should get them? And when should you get them? So
Speaker 1: so so important. I think just because we are in
Speaker 1: a pandemic doesn't mean that you lose sight of the
Speaker 1: important screening, or that we lose sight of the important
Speaker 1: vaccinations TEA DAP and the flu vaccine. I should every
Speaker 1: patient should get TEE tap and the third timester That
Speaker 1: is important. It gives baby a little bit of immunity.
Speaker 1: You don't really want your baby to have protests. This
Speaker 1: wouldn't be ideal at all. You don't want to get
Speaker 1: the flu and pregnancy. Women with the flu don't do
Speaker 1: as well. I've often have patients in the ICU with
Speaker 1: the flu, and you don't want to have the ability
Speaker 1: to get both. You can get flu and COVID. That
Speaker 1: is not a good combination. So absolutely protect yourself as
Speaker 1: much as you can. Make sure that your family members
Speaker 1: are protected. So this way they protect you more and
Speaker 1: they also protect that baby that is coming into this
Speaker 1: your bubble, your family. So it's all about cocooning. Yes,
Speaker 1: they are cocooning you, and everybody is concooning the baby.
Speaker 1: That's right. When is the flu shop recommended? What month
Speaker 1: is flu season officially beginning, so early September we usually
Speaker 1: get the vaccines, but it just depends on when the
Speaker 1: vaccine is sent to your community. And honestly, as soon
Speaker 1: as the vaccine is sent to the community, I go
Speaker 1: and get it. My husband gets and my kids get it.
Speaker 1: So that I protect obviously my patients, but then also
Speaker 1: I recommend that for the patients as well, so everyone
Speaker 1: over the age of six months. Yes, what if I
Speaker 1: do have for pregnant frontline healthcare workers and other essential
Speaker 1: workers like teachers and women who work in restaurants and
Speaker 1: grocery stores, or moms whose partners are frontline workers. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: this is a discussion. I think that's been happening in
Speaker 1: a lot of offices across the country. I have asked
Speaker 1: some of my colleagues and anticipation to this question, what
Speaker 1: are we doing across the nation? And there's different answers
Speaker 1: to this question. Some some physicians are getting letters and
Speaker 1: most of them are not getting letters to be awful work,
Speaker 1: but they are recommending that moms do communicate their pregnancy
Speaker 1: to their workplace so that there there's an availability to
Speaker 1: either work online or to not be as exposed. But
Speaker 1: that might be an option for them. Unfortunately, this is
Speaker 1: one of those times where being really forthcoming in explaining
Speaker 1: to your workplace that this is happening in your life
Speaker 1: is important. But it is different and different parts of
Speaker 1: the country and I find in different offices are doing
Speaker 1: different things. Yeah, and all of that protective equipment is
Speaker 1: definitely a heavy load for pregnant woman to carry it eating. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure, we are. We actually looked at some of
Speaker 1: this data wearing an M ninety five mask here at
Speaker 1: USF for pregnant healthcare workers and surprisingly they did actually
Speaker 1: very well. There wasn't a lot of changes physiologically for
Speaker 1: women wearing AN ninety five masks who were pregnant, and
Speaker 1: they tolerated it rather well. It's one of those things
Speaker 1: that once you were a little bit more, you end
Speaker 1: up tolerating more. But we are are looking further into
Speaker 1: that question. Um as we speak, we're trying to get
Speaker 1: this approve of the i RB UM. I think it
Speaker 1: is an important question to talk about. But absolutely there's
Speaker 1: no way that you should not be protected or really
Speaker 1: where the full gear if you do have to be
Speaker 1: in the hospital and be exposed. So let's take a
Speaker 1: quick break and when we come back, Dr Oberton and
Speaker 1: I are answering your biggest questions about pregnancy in the
Speaker 1: time of COVID nineteen. I'm back with my friend, maternal
Speaker 1: fetal medicine specialist Dr Sarah Oton. Now Sarah I asked
Speaker 1: moms on social media for their biggest questions and concerns
Speaker 1: about being pregnant during the pandemic, and I'm sure you've
Speaker 1: heard a lot of these before. One of the questions
Speaker 1: they had is it important to take childbirth education and
Speaker 1: breastfeeding classes as well as something I always post the
Speaker 1: baby CPR classes our hospitals offering them on zoo. Oh sure, sure,
Speaker 1: hospitals are being really innovative with the type of classes
Speaker 1: we're doing. I mean, this has really been the I
Speaker 1: T era. I guess when it comes to all these classes,
Speaker 1: it is possible we are offering them, certainly. I bet
Speaker 1: you a lot of hospitals around the country are offering
Speaker 1: just make sure you ask about it. I think all
Speaker 1: of those classes are really important. I agree with you
Speaker 1: on the CPR one as well, and I think so
Speaker 1: much focus on the pandemic, you've got to also prepare
Speaker 1: for child birth. I think that helps a lot, oh
Speaker 1: for sure. And this is actually one of those situations
Speaker 1: where your partner can be there with you, your mom
Speaker 1: can be with you, right, I mean, it's really nice
Speaker 1: kind of opportunity to get a lot of people in
Speaker 1: the room to take that class with you. So is
Speaker 1: it safe to deliver at a hospital? Now? Lots of
Speaker 1: moms are wondering whether they should consider a home birth instead.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts. I would not consider a home
Speaker 1: were instead of going to the hospital because of the pandemic.
Speaker 1: I mean, when it comes to childbirth, there are so
Speaker 1: many things that can go wrong during the time of
Speaker 1: labor and delivery for moms and for baby. You really
Speaker 1: want to be in the best place that's going to
Speaker 1: help you and your future baby, right, this is so
Speaker 1: so important, And while the pandemic has made things harder,
Speaker 1: undoubtedly surely we are doing honestly everything we can to
Speaker 1: keep you and your your little family United State as possible.
Speaker 1: But you have the availability for blood products if you
Speaker 1: need it for surgery, if you need it for any
Speaker 1: kind of care that you may otherwise not be able
Speaker 1: to do. And if something comes up during a home
Speaker 1: birth and you have to be rushed to the hospital
Speaker 1: and securing the emergency transportation that you might need might
Speaker 1: be more challenging during a pandemic, for sure, a lot
Speaker 1: more challenging. One more mask. I'm so overheated all the time,
Speaker 1: and wearing a mask makes me feel like I can't
Speaker 1: catch my breath. Does that mean I'm not getting enough
Speaker 1: oxygen for the baby. That's a common question. But wearing
Speaker 1: a mask actually is not detrimental to you. We've looked
Speaker 1: at this data even for an N ninety five masks,
Speaker 1: and most of our patients are not wearing N ninety
Speaker 1: five masks. If you can imagine with an N ninety
Speaker 1: five or the equivalent. It's much harder to breathe than
Speaker 1: because it's so dense. It is really keeping out really
Speaker 1: small particles. With a cloth mask or with any kind
Speaker 1: of other surgical grain masks that it's a little bit
Speaker 1: lower than and I find that will still give you
Speaker 1: some protection, but it should not give you so much
Speaker 1: shortence of breath. That being said, for sure, pregnancy is tough, right,
Speaker 1: It's harder to breathe. There's so much more volume of
Speaker 1: fluid in your body. It's harder to catch your breath.
Speaker 1: That is normal, but you are getting enough oxygen as
Speaker 1: long as you are doing that for a limited periods
Speaker 1: of time that you feel okay. It's hard to exercise
Speaker 1: with the mask, but certainly if you're in public places,
Speaker 1: you should be wearing it. And the worst thing that's
Speaker 1: going to happen is that you're going to feel overheated. Right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna feel great. Sure mom wants to have
Speaker 1: a duela, but she's afraid that you won't be able
Speaker 1: to have one if her partner is with her. I
Speaker 1: know in New Jersey they've issued an executive directive that
Speaker 1: mandates duelas as essential birth support, which I think is awesome,
Speaker 1: but in many cases moms aren't allowed to have them.
Speaker 1: So are they able to use FaceTime to be with
Speaker 1: their duelas that's true in different parts of the country,
Speaker 1: there are different rules, and yes, if you are not
Speaker 1: able to bring two people with you, and you choose
Speaker 1: to bring your partner, then you can have a duela
Speaker 1: with you on some sort of I T device, computer,
Speaker 1: or phone, and we encourage that. I think that is
Speaker 1: completely reasonable. Uh, we just have to kind of follow
Speaker 1: within the rules depending on where you are how many
Speaker 1: people you can have with you, or potentially you could
Speaker 1: have your mom on FaceTime or your mother in law
Speaker 1: and they won't have to fight about who's actually in
Speaker 1: the room with you. That's true, Claus. One of the
Speaker 1: benefits is it safe to breastfeed if you test positive
Speaker 1: for COVID? Great questions. So we understand breastfeeding is very
Speaker 1: important and we encourage that for all our moms. Having
Speaker 1: that discussion with your healthcare providers really important. But breastfeeding
Speaker 1: is reasonable. We always talk to moms about making sure
Speaker 1: that they're protected with the mask, making sure that they're
Speaker 1: constantly washing their hands, washing their breasts. If they're pumping.
Speaker 1: To always wash their parts. We should be done anyway,
Speaker 1: but certainly wash their parts in between each of those pumps,
Speaker 1: just to minimize some of those risks. And then when
Speaker 1: your babies around you get there, there's some distance. How
Speaker 1: hard is that? It's hard, but just to have the
Speaker 1: baby a little bit separated so it has a lower
Speaker 1: chance of attracting the virus. I guess the same challenges
Speaker 1: would apply if you were bottle feeding your baby. You'd
Speaker 1: still have to maintain some kind of protective measures. Yes, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and those things don't have to last forever. They're now
Speaker 1: in your guidelines. This sometimes these times are like shorter
Speaker 1: and shorter as we understand more and more about this virus. Right,
Speaker 1: but looking at those guidelines and just checking that often
Speaker 1: to make sure that you're doing the right thing and
Speaker 1: while you're early in those early positive days, that you
Speaker 1: really protect yourself and your baby. Some doctors seem to
Speaker 1: be recommending some form of quarantine or you know, stay
Speaker 1: at home in the last few weeks before your due date.
Speaker 1: What do you think about that? I think that sounds reasonable.
Speaker 1: So things done just to minimize all of your risks.
Speaker 1: I say that to every single pregnantation, no matter what,
Speaker 1: just part of gestation they're in, right, just minimize the
Speaker 1: risk of getting this. You don't want to be exposed
Speaker 1: to this if you don't have to. It's certainly in
Speaker 1: the last two three weeks. It will negate all those
Speaker 1: questions that we're answering right now. Can you recipee while
Speaker 1: you have COVID? You know who's going to be around you.
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you take care of yourself if
Speaker 1: you have COVID. If you are securing yourself and you
Speaker 1: are minimizing your risk, then the chances to be contracting
Speaker 1: it are low, and therefore you're going to have less
Speaker 1: of these questions to deal with and you had your baby. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if only we could all have family leave starting before
Speaker 1: the baby is born and then continuing after and make
Speaker 1: it a lot easier. That is a completely different podcast.
Speaker 1: That is we need to be fighting. Yes we do, Yes,
Speaker 1: we do now, cord blood banking and collection is everything.
Speaker 1: Business is usual when it comes to that during COVID,
Speaker 1: and most of my colleagues around the country say yes,
Speaker 1: I have not heard differently. Um, there might be some
Speaker 1: difficulties with maybe some private or public eye. I'm not
Speaker 1: I'm sin sure, but we're here for us, we would
Speaker 1: still collect it and for a lot of our at
Speaker 1: least the contacts of different parts of the country, they
Speaker 1: are still as business as usual in terms of collecting
Speaker 1: the cord blood. Okay, good to know. What do you
Speaker 1: think about family visits when the new baby arrives. Yes, so,
Speaker 1: I think every time we have a baby, our job
Speaker 1: is to for checked that baby and pro checked our
Speaker 1: little family unit. I think you should be really tough
Speaker 1: on deciding who gets to visit your baby, and you
Speaker 1: should have the same expectations of them as you had
Speaker 1: of yourself and your partner in terms of really making
Speaker 1: sure that you're socially distance, that you're amasking that you
Speaker 1: had your tetap and your flu vaccine, even pre COVID.
Speaker 1: When I had my second child and I asked my
Speaker 1: mom to get her tetap and her flu vaccine. It's
Speaker 1: one of those things where again we're trying to cocoon
Speaker 1: this family as best we can. So what's the bottom
Speaker 1: line on whether expecting moms should be around their families,
Speaker 1: assuming they like their families, excuse not to be around
Speaker 1: your family? If you're not so much you're on the fence. No.
Speaker 1: I always talked to my patients about really you know
Speaker 1: listening to that. I mean obviously your partner, your kids,
Speaker 1: maybe your mom, dad, somebody that you're a close knit unit.
Speaker 1: But this is probably not the time to visit some
Speaker 1: distant cousin sur aunts. It's not the time to meet
Speaker 1: forty or fifty people at a family wedding, because even
Speaker 1: though you are taking care of yourself and your you know,
Speaker 1: intimate family members are taking care of themselves, perhaps you
Speaker 1: don't know what the rest of the forty or fifty
Speaker 1: people are doing and how they are socially distancing, etcetera.
Speaker 1: So it's really important to really be very um, pretty
Speaker 1: picky about who you let into your good right. I
Speaker 1: think that's good advice under any circumstances. But that's just
Speaker 1: me and my family. I've been hearing a lot of
Speaker 1: moms who seemed to be more anxious and stressed, understandably,
Speaker 1: so during the pandemic, are you seeing more patients who
Speaker 1: are presenting with clinically diagnosable mood disorders during pregnancy and
Speaker 1: postpartum with anxiety disorder depression that is related to be
Speaker 1: feelings so isolated and maybe even being robbed of the
Speaker 1: kind of magical experience of pregnancy. In some respects. You
Speaker 1: don't have your baby shower, at least not in person.
Speaker 1: You can do it virtually, but you don't get to
Speaker 1: show off your bomp and and celebrate openly as you
Speaker 1: otherwise would. Yes, it's really hard for our pregnant moms.
Speaker 1: We certainly have heard a lot more discussion of you
Speaker 1: know when when women come in them or chearful. Uh,
Speaker 1: they're just more challenge at home. It's harder with the
Speaker 1: kids at home. It's it's harder with relationships at home
Speaker 1: and not being able to work, I mean being worried.
Speaker 1: This is this is pervasive for sure, and the data
Speaker 1: on this is going to come out and I think
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be a staggering It is
Speaker 1: is so tough and right now that social support is lacking.
Speaker 1: Right I always talk to my mom's and and when
Speaker 1: I see them, just to provide some of that physical
Speaker 1: comfort of being close to them and even though we're masked,
Speaker 1: you know, to actually be physically present, but for them
Speaker 1: to seek out their friends online, to seek out their families,
Speaker 1: to cocoon their families and really be a tight you know, unit.
Speaker 1: This is the time where we're supposed to be the strongest,
Speaker 1: and it's quite the challenge for our friend. So you're
Speaker 1: dealing with a pregnant pod. Yeah, it's a good Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think we need a silver lining. We all desperately
Speaker 1: need a silver lining to this pandemic. For me, it's
Speaker 1: that parents have more of an opportunity to hunker down
Speaker 1: with each other, um as a couple, and and with
Speaker 1: any other children, and also with their new babies, and
Speaker 1: to spend more time as that little pod instead of
Speaker 1: inviting a whole lot of other people in to their
Speaker 1: homes that you know are fun to see the baby.
Speaker 1: It's all very exciting, but also it's a lot of work,
Speaker 1: and it's a lot of stress, and you've got a
Speaker 1: lot of people telling you what to do. And this
Speaker 1: gives you an opportunity to do it just as a
Speaker 1: little family unit, which I think is nice. What's your
Speaker 1: silver lining? I do think life is simpler. You were
Speaker 1: just running around us and they're now there's just a
Speaker 1: higher I guess there's higher thought given to really the
Speaker 1: things that are important, so family and your kids and
Speaker 1: just yourself and taking care of yourself, and those things
Speaker 1: are really more important than anything else, and that has
Speaker 1: been deposited now. I do worry about my women who
Speaker 1: may be experiencing domestic violence and not being able to
Speaker 1: have an outlet and things like this. And if I
Speaker 1: can tell any moms who are struggling with this to
Speaker 1: please reach out to anybody that can help you or
Speaker 1: your doctor. I mean, we are We're here for that.
Speaker 1: And I do worry about those who may be experiencing
Speaker 1: more intimate partner violence. And now that we're through going
Speaker 1: through a pandemic, yeah, sometimes sheltering at home is not
Speaker 1: the safest option for some moms. Yes, Unfortunately that's a reality,
Speaker 1: and we all need to be there for each other
Speaker 1: and support each other through this. It's said too often,
Speaker 1: but it's also true. We are all in this together. Yes,
Speaker 1: thank you so much, Sarah. I'm interviewing Dr Obaton regularly
Speaker 1: for what to expect I g t V, so please
Speaker 1: make sure to check in regularly for the most up
Speaker 1: to date recommendations on pregnancy and COVID nineteen. Thank you
Speaker 1: who babylove my baby belove. I need you, Oh how
Speaker 1: I need you. Thanks for listening. Remember I'm always here
Speaker 1: for you. What to Expect is always here for you.
Speaker 1: We're all in this together. For more on what you
Speaker 1: heard on today's episode, visit what to Expect dot com
Speaker 1: slash podcast. You can also check out What to Expect
Speaker 1: when You're Expecting, What to Expect the First Year, and
Speaker 1: the What to Expect app. And we want to hear
Speaker 1: from you. Connect with us on our community message board
Speaker 1: or on our social media. You can find me at
Speaker 1: Heidi Murkoff and Emma at Emma Being of wt E,
Speaker 1: and of course at What to Expect. Baby Love is
Speaker 1: performed by Riley Peterer. What to Expect is a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. From more shows from I Heart
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