Life During Covid-19: A Mother’s Journey
Violet Marie Edwards was born March 31, 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Courtesy Photo: Lacey Davila.
June 12, 2020 - San Antonio
Article By: Brigid Cooley - Staff Intern, SA Sentinel
A delivery room at Christus Santa Rosa hospital. Lacey Davila gave birth to her third child, Violet, on March 31 during the coronavirus pandemic. Courtesy Photo: Lacey Davila.
When Lacey Davila arrived at the maternity ward of Christus Santa Rosa hospital to give birth to her third child, she received a much different greeting than her last two birthing experiences.
“We got there at 6 a.m. to check in and again, when we get there, all the nurses are behind the nursing station,” Davila said. “Normally, you’re supposed to go into the room and fill out all the paperwork in the bed and all that stuff; they weren’t allowing that. I had to stand in the hallway and fill out all the paperwork while the nurse was six feet away from me.”
Davila gave birth to her daughter Violet on March 31 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Her three day hospital stay felt impersonal and empty when compared to her previous experiences.
“They had less employees than they normally did,” Davila said. “There also wasn’t the support that there normally was since there were less employees. With the other kids, they would have somebody come in that would talk to you about breastfeeding and I didn’t have any of that. They just gave me a little pamphlet on the stuff and that was it.”
To adhere to hospital guidelines, Davila was only allowed to have one person with her during her labor. Once the birth was over, Violet was not allowed outside Davila’s room to decrease potential exposure to the virus.
“Normally, they take the baby out to do the hearing test and the shots and the weight and all that, but since Covid, they had to do all that in the room,” Davila said. “I thought that was interesting to actually get to see the baby go through that stuff but it was also weird because, normally when you just give birth, that’s when you get to rest.”
Davila said she is lucky to not be a first time mom, as this experience was her “most traumatic birth” yet. Although time has passed since the birth, the pandemic continues to affect Davila’s life as a mother.
“Now at my doctor’s office, we have to be the first appointment when we go in, so if I want to take her (Violet) to the doctor, I don’t get to choose. I have to pick a day and then go in at 9 o’clock in the morning.”
A sign informing patients of the altered visiting requirements at Christus Santa Rosa hospital during March 2020. The hospital limited the number of visitors allowed inside to reduce potential exposure to Covid-19. Courtesy Photo: Lacey Davila.
Quarantine Life: The New Isolation
Jessica Sachs gave birth to her son Mateo in December, before the coronavirus was a real concern in the United States.
“At that time, it was only the flu,” Sachs said. “Everybody was worried about the flu because he was so little.”
Once the virus began to spread throughout the country, Sachs and her family quarantined like everyone else, taking extra measures to stay safe.
“We didn’t see anybody,” Sachs said. “Even at that time, they were saying that kids weren’t really getting it, but you know, I just didn’t want to risk it. So, we didn’t see family for quite a while. We got a little more strict with people coming over and going places.”
While able to spend time with her baby during quarantine, Sachs said her family missed seeing him.
“I think with our family members, it affected them,” Sachs said. “I mean, we didn’t see them maybe for a month and a half. And then, when we did recently go start visiting them, it’s kind of like, we don’t want to hug even though I know my parents haven’t gone anywhere. My husband’s going to work, so what if we’re asymptomatic and we don’t know and we give it to them? So it’s weird to finally go and visit them and they can’t hug us or hold the baby kind of thing.”
A child crawls on the grassy area of the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. Photo By: B. Kay Richter.
Baby Steps: Crawling Back to Normalcy
For expectant mother and school nurse Meredith Baker, the pandemic has become less concerning as time has passed.
“In the beginning, in March, I was very concerned,” Baker said. “It was downright scary thinking that I was bringing a child into this world. Now, as the last few months have gone on and we’ve learned a lot more, I can truly say that I am not that nervous.”
On July 22, Baker and her husband will welcome their first child home after a pregnancy complicated by the pandemic. Additionally, Baker deals with gestational hypertension and diabetes. Her physical symptoms will subside once she gives birth but the reality of her pregnancy ending differently than expected has been difficult to deal with.
“As of right now, it still stands that you can only have one visitor,” Baker said. “You can’t switch out. It can’t be my husband and then my mom and then his mom switching out. It’s one visitor the whole time. That is definitely a little bit harder for me to accept because I’ve always had this dream of people coming in and holding my baby in the hospital.”
Baker is concerned that, with potential lack of staffing and attention in the hospital, she won’t receive information needed as a new mom.
“As a new mom, I definitely need all the breastfeeding tips I can get, I definitely need to know postpartum care,” Baker said. “I am a nurse, but I am not an OB nurse, so I need all the information they can give me.”
Since some panic had eased surrounding the coronavirus, the couple plans to see family after returning home.
“For the first two or three months, as I think any new mom would, I will keep my baby out of a public setting, but that’s just coronavirus or not,” Baker said. “I think moms do that anyway. But other than that, I probably wouldn’t change what we do. I will still welcome (my) family over.”
Brigid Cooley is the editor-in-chief of The Mesquite, a student publication of Texas A&M - San Antonio. E-mail her at reporter@sasentinel.com.