{"id":57668,"date":"2020-12-03T11:07:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T16:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?page_id=57668"},"modified":"2022-01-12T12:29:19","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T17:29:19","slug":"having-a-baby-while-suspect-or-covid-19-positive","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/clinical-services\/deptpgrmcs\/departments\/obstetrics-gynecology-and-newborn-care\/having-a-baby-while-suspect-or-covid-19-positive\/","title":{"rendered":"Having a Baby While Suspect or Covid-19 Positive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Information for you and your baby while you are in the hospital and for going home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"intro-text1\">The Ottawa Hospital has taken all possible precautions to create a safe and supportive environment for families having a baby during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How is COVID-19 Spread?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Covid-19 virus is usually spread when respiratory droplets of an infected person contact the mouth, nose, or eyes of another person. This can happen if you are less than 6 feet apart for more than a few minutes with an infected person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Babies may be infected after birth if they are in contact with an infected person.&nbsp; This means that anyone who has COVID-19 can spread it to the baby when providing care. It is safest to stay 6 feet away from your baby when not caring for or feeding the baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you are home, it is best to limit contact to members of your immediate household until you have completed the self-isolation recommended by Ottawa Public Health.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">COVID-19 and Breastfeeding:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Breastmilk is the best source of nutrition for infants<\/li><li>As of now, studies say that COVID-19 is not frequently passed through breastmilk<\/li><li>Wash hands and breasts carefully with soap and water before breast feeding, expressing milk, or pumping your breasts<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Should you care for your baby, or choose an alternate healthy caregiver?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Newborns have immature immune systems which makes them at a higher risk of serious respiratory viral infections. There is some evidence that infants can suffer severe or life-threatening illness with COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are welcome to have a healthy support person stay with you in hospital.&nbsp; A healthy support person is a non-exposed caregiver friend or family member, chosen by you. This person would replace your support person\/significant other.&nbsp; Your support person<strong> must always stay in your room and always wear personal protective equipment<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When providing care to baby, please use the following safety steps:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Before touching your baby, you should wash your hands very well with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer<\/li><li>Avoid touching your face when holding or caring for your baby<\/li><li>You should always wear a surgical mask:<ul><li>When touching your baby<\/li><li>When the baby is less than 6 feet from your face<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>You are welcome to breast feed your baby, or your expressed breast milk or formula can be provided to your baby by the caregiver.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Support persons or alternate care providers should bring:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Clothing, and other necessary personal items<\/li><li>Food, drinks, and snacks<\/li><li>Toiletries<\/li><li>Medications<\/li><li>Car seat<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Temporary separation:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If you are <strong>unwell from COVID-19 illness,<\/strong> your baby may be cared for in the SCN\/NICU nursery<\/li><li>Your expressed breast milk or formula will be provided to the baby by the nurse<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Discharge Considerations:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You will be discharged at the same time as your baby<\/li><li>Please follow the same<strong> safety<\/strong> <strong>steps<\/strong> as above<\/li><li>Please purchase medical masks to use at home<\/li><li>You should follow safety steps until you have completed the isolation period as recommended by Ottawa Public Health. <strong>This could be about 10 days or longer<\/strong><\/li><li>Your initial maternal\/newborn follow up will be scheduled at the Monarch C19 clinic at TOH<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Information for you and your baby while you are in the hospital and for going home The Ottawa Hospital has taken all possible precautions to create a safe and supportive environment for families having a baby during the COVID-19 pandemic. How is COVID-19 Spread? Covid-19 virus is usually spread when respiratory droplets of an infected [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"parent":12076,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mc_calendar":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-57668","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57668\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}