Women who gave birth while wearing face masks are speaking out on social media

Adobe

Ask any mother: Nothing about childbirth is easy. But now, in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, labor and delivery has become even more difficult. Women are now giving birth with masks on, and in many cases, they aren’t even able to have their partner beside them.

Many hospitals, like New York City’s New York-Presbyterian, made the difficult choice to disallow birthing partners and require women to give birth alone. It’s a devastating reality that some experts say is necessary in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep patients safe. Here’s their tweet about their coronavirus prevention policy:

Although the experience of giving birth alone — let alone while wearing a cloth face covering — is no doubt unbelievably hard, women are tough. And they’re proving it, by sharing their labor stories on social media and urging Americans to toughen up and follow suit in order to protect their already-overtaxed medical care workers.

Twitter user @iamlaurenmiles who gave birth on July 4 tweeted the following:

A supportive commenter offered her congrats, saying women are “something else”:

https://twitter.com/heiraden/status/1280237493108060162

Twitterer @sierraautumns says shopping with a mask on might not be totally comfortable, but points out that giving birth while wearing a mask is MUCH harder. Yet women are doing it every day without complaint:

https://twitter.com/sierraautumns/status/1278038312930828288

And one mom-to-be (@chmpgnsprnva4) is telling Twitter to mask up and hush up:

Twitter user @KateGregory_ reminds us that we are stronger than we know:

Twitter user @cherlytemple32 was more blunt, telling men that if women can wear masks during labor, then others can deal with the inconvenience while shopping or picking up takeout food:

https://twitter.com/cherlytemple32/status/1281660183425486848

And dads who witnessed their partners heroically give birth with a mask on totally agree:

Some women say that they were required to wear a mask the entire time they were in the hospital, even when they were sleeping at night. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended splitting up mothers and babies for up to two weeks in order to help isolate newborns from the threat of COVID-19 transmission.

If you are looking for ways to support pregnant women and moms during this time, you can offer support to National Advocates for Pregnant Women or Sister Song.

Family & Parenting, Health, Life, News
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About the Author
Bridget Sharkey
Bridget Sharkey is a freelance writer covering pop culture, beauty, food, health and nature.

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