Pregnant Women (Emilee Pennington)
Fact-Checked Source: "A Chaotic Week for Pregnant Women in New York City" by Emily Bobrow.
An exploration of what's going on in the world of pregnancy in New York City, including the perspectives of pregnant mothers, doctors, and home birthing experts during the COVID-19 pandemic.Digging Deeper: Five Fact Checked Claims
Here, I fact check five claims the above article makes about COVID-19.The virus is both unpredictable and extremely contagious, he said, and the presence of even one extra person on the unit increases the risk of transmission, particularly as there is so little personal protective equipment (P.P.E.) to go around.I wanted to explore this fact because it helps to show how something we don't normally think is significant, like an extra person working, can affect everyone around. The coronavirus is in fact extremely contagious and unpredictable, as confirmed by a Vox article written by Dylan Matthews. Social distancing helps to protect everyone, especially because symptoms of the virus don't always present themselves until 10-15 days in. It's best for the correct number of staff to be on to ensure the virus doesn't spread.
The initial news had been reassuring: research from China showed that pregnant women who tested positive for the virus did not transmit it to their babies, and all had good outcomes. But the study included a mere nine women, all of whom had only mild symptoms.The information provided by this claim is mostly correct. This study, done by Huaping Zhu et. al, did include nine pregnant women who tested positive for COVID-19 and all of their babies tested negative. However, the "all had good outcomes" is misleading, because several newborns had complications, with one death being reported. It is unknown whether the outcomes had anything to do with the mother being infected with COVID-19. The article does not take this information from the study itself, but rather an interpretation of the Zhu study, which could be the cause of the discrepancy.
A more recent study, of forty-one pregnant women with covid-19, found that they had a higher risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, and preëclampsia (along with a higher rate of C-section), particularly if they had been hospitalized for pneumonia.I was curious about this claim because it really illuminates the dangers for pregnant women. I found that, yes, this study of 41 pregnant women did provide evidence that they are more at risk for things like miscarriage or preterm birth. This was confirmed by a study done by D Di Mascio, A Khalil, and G Saccone et al. entitled "Outcome of Coronavirus spectrum infections (SARS, MERS, COVID-19) during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis."
N.Y.P.’s decision to ban partners was informed by two cases involving women who arrived at an N.Y.P. hospital with no coronavirus symptoms; after giving birth, both showed severe signs of covid-19 and needed days in intensive-care units.The information in this claim is true, as detailed by the article "COVID-19 in pregnancy: early lessons" by N Breslin et al. There were in fact two women that were presenting no coronavirus symptoms upon arrival at the hospital, but both ended up in the ICU. The study indicated that this could be due to prolonged interaction with obstetrical care workers without access to adequate PPE supplies.
Childbirth may be uniquely dangerous to providers because it is an intimate and hands-on process over a long stretch of time, involving bodily fluids and fecal matter. The grunting and heavy breathing of labor can also aerosolize the virus if the mother is a carrier.The article by N Breslin et al. fact checking the claim above, also provides evidence that this claim is true. As insufficient PPE equipment is available for many health care workers and childbirth happens to involve many bodily fluids, there is little protection to keep the virus from spreading. Therefore, childbirth is dangerous for not only the mother, but the people helping the mother through childbirth if the mother has the virus.
Analytic Essay
Pregnancy in the Time of Pandemic
In only a month our world as we know it has been turned upside-down. We’re dealing with a lot right now, trying to keep our loved ones safe and trying to keep our own sanity. But imagine if you were getting ready to bring another life into this world. Imagine if you were pregnant. Concerned not only for their own safety, but also for that of their unborn child, pregnant women have a collective sense of worry and confusion causing them to change their plans, in some cases at the last minute.Adding to pregnant women’s concerns, many private hospitals have banned partners in the delivery room. At New York Presbyterian (N.Y.P) Lauren Pelz got the news her husband wouldn’t be allowed to attend the birth of their second child on Sunday, March 22. Pelz spent the rest of the day crying. When Monday night came around, it was time for Pelz to be induced in order to deliver their daughter while her husband's involvement was limited to dropping her off at the hospital. Her husband was able to be there using FaceTime on an iPad, but that arguably isn't the same (Bobrow, 2020). Many women are dealing with the possibility of their partners not being with them for the birth of their child, which can be stressful. Rafaela, an expecting mother says that “It’s kind of scary knowing you’re by yourself. Who do you have to rely on?” (Hilbert, 2020). Most women want their partners with them; having a baby can be terrifying. The absence of a loved one on this life-changing day contributes to the uncertainty pregnant women face.
Protecting their unborn child is the most important thing, which is why many women have begun to change their birthing plans. Changes include shifting to home births and temporarily relocating to an area less effected by COVID-19. Kimm Sun is a home birth nurse-midwife in Brooklyn, New York and amongst the chaos she says she’s received more home birth requests in one day than she typically sees in an entire year. And Sun isn’t alone; several other midwives in New York City have been getting more inquiries than they know what to do with (Bobrow, 2020). However, some women like Amanda Baudier have a different approach and are leaving their homes all together. Baudier, who lives in New York City, left for Maryland before the schools started to close. She didn’t expect to be there long, but she was in for a surprise from her obstetrician who told her to stay away from New York. Now Baudier has started to look for somewhere to give birth near Annapolis (Malmut, 2020). Pregnant women are unsure of what the future holds, shown by the changing of long standing plans and the crafting of back-up plans. The main takeaway is that these women will do whatever they can to keep their child safe, anyway they can.
The current COVID-19 pandemic closely resembles the H1N1 pandemic of 2009, but on a greater scale. The idea that pregnant women need to protect themselves and their unborn child is something that remains consistent between the two viruses. A study done on pregnant women reflecting on their experiences during the H1N1 pandemic confirmed this. As one mother put it “‘If I get unwell, if something happens to me, if I get really ill, then that’s going to effect the baby and the baby is going to end up ill or worse?’ And I just couldn’t you know. You just feel completely responsible. You just feel like your whole everything: your whole life is for the baby” (Lohm et al., 2014). This sentiment seems to be one pregnant women have adopt regardless of when the pandemic occurs; the baby comes first. Similarly, the actions taken by women are congruent between the pandemics, as one expecting woman, Jan debated about moving her family to a more isolated area during the H1N1 outbreak. Everything expecting mothers have done during both pandemics has been for the safety of the child, as shown by their words and actions.
Ultimately, this is a scary time for everyone. Especially for pregnant women who have to face the dangers of a pandemic while preparing to bring a new life into the world. Their actions reflect their love for their unborn child but also their uncertainty as demonstrated by the increase in both home birth and relocation alternatives. One thing is clear, women act in ways that are consistent with what they feel best protects their children, regardless of the circumstances.
References
Bobrow, E., Widdicombe, L., & Mukherjee, S. (2020, April 1). A Chaotic Week for Pregnant Women in New York City. The New Yorker. Retrieved April 4, 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/a-chaotic-week-for-pregnant-women-in-new-york-city
This is a secondary source, in the form of a journalistic article that compiles information relating to pregnant women during the time of the pandemic. The source talks about a couple mothers specifically and their experience and it talks about other people, like midwives and doulas, who've experienced pregnant women's concerns about the virus. The main purpose of this source is to showcase the conditions new mothers are dealing with and how they are dealing with them. The source also shows the uncertainty around pregnancy and covid-19 and how that's impacted the way medical professionals approach pregnancy. Key ideas include how hospitals have started to change their policies and how that's affected soon to be mothers, recent studies of women infected with covid-19, and testimonies from midwives/doulas and doctors. This source provides good evidence because not only does it talk about some first had experiences of pregnant women, it also uses people who've interacted with pregnant women and provides some research that has been done that directly relates to these women.
Hilbert, C. [New York Magazine]. (2020, April 3). How Three Pregnant Women Are Responding to COVID-19 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL4B448958847DA6FB&v=Qc1jusO96wY&feature=emb_title
This is a primary source I found when I looked up "pregnant women perspectives on covid 19" where three women talk about their current experiences. It comes from the New York Magazine Youtube page. The main purpose of this is to share what it's like to be pregnant during this time and how they're adjusting to the uncertainty. The women answer questions like how are you practicing social distancing, has your birthing plan changed, and how do you cope with stress during this time. Two of them talked about the importance of having their partner with them during the birth and they might reevaluate their birthing plan based on if this is a possibility.
Lohm, D., Flowers, P., Stephenson, N., Waller, E., & Davis, M. D. (2014). Biography, pandemic time and risk: Pregnant women reflecting on their experiences of the 2009 influenza pandemic. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, 18(5), 493–508. doi: 10.1177/1363459313516135
Davina Lohm, the first author, has a PhD in Sociology from Monash University and works on research projects while teaching sociology at Monash University. Paul Flowers, another author, is the Associate Dean Research at Glasgow Caldonian University in the School of Health and Life Sciences. He has written 4 books and authored 86 papers with focuses on HIV, methodological innovation, and public health. These researchers conducted several in depth interviews with women who were pregnant during the H1N1 pandemic (116 respondents but only some of which were pregnant) and conducted focus groups. The examination of how pregnant women evaluated risk, navigated contradictory information, and began to change their behavior during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. There are quotes from several women detailing how they responded to different types of risks and if they social distanced and how they social distanced. There were also summaries of how several women responded to the risks of the pandemic. The source provides additional insight because I examine how the behavior of pregnant women has changed from 2009 to now.
Malamut, M. (2020, March 24). Pregnant women share what it's like to be expecting during coronavirus pandemic. The New York Post. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2020/03/23/pregnant-women-share-what-its-like-to-be-expecting-during-coronavirus-pandemic/
This is a secondary source, in the form of a news article, found when I searched for "covid 19 and pregnancy" that I found on the New York Post website. The perspective is shown through its quotes from many women talking about their experience and what they've been doing to ensure the health of themselves and their babies. The main purpose is to inform other women expecting how some people are approaching the situation but also informing the public about what it's like for these women right now. Since the women in this article are from New York, the epicenter for the US coronavirus outbreak, a couple of them talked about leaving town to protect their safety. Many of them expressed concern about their partners not being allowed in the delivery room and and some have even made back up plans depending on how far out their due date is. The perspectives of several women are featured in this article and they're doing a lot of similar things but some of them have varying levels of concern.