Coronavirus: Lockdown birth 'really quite scary'

The family had to keep in touch via Facetime for three days after Wilf's birth

A woman who gave birth at the start of lockdown said seeing midwives wearing full PPE was "really quite scary".

Rose Wilson said she was hoping for a "calm and serene" birth but ended up needing an emergency C-Section.

She said the advice was changing from hour to hour and she went from seeing the midwives' faces to "gowns, gloves and facemasks and everything else".

Despite the "changing dynamics" Wilf was delivered at seven pounds, one ounce, after a 30-hour induction.

"Wilf is very fit and well and weighs significantly more than that now," Ms Wilson said.

'Quite dramatic'

She was admitted to St Michaels Hospital, in Bristol, as lockdown was announced, and said "things suddenly became quite dramatic".

"All the legislation was changing on an hourly basis, there was a lot of uncertainty and a lot of worry."

Originally her partner Luke was told he had to stay on the ward and "if he left he would not be allowed back in".

"Then the guidance changed again and he wasn't allowed to stay after the birth.

"I ended up staying in hospital for three days after the birth without Luke, keeping in touch via Facetime."

Wilf weighed seven pounds, one ounce at birth "but is significantly more than that now"

Ms Wilson added she had been looking forward to a hypnobirth experience, which she said would have been "quite calm and serene".

"An emergency C-section is about as far away from that as you can possibly imagine," she said.

"When they came in with the facemasks there was definitely a moment where I looked at my partner and said this feels really medicalised and quite scary.

"All the midwives were just incredible... You could see that they were smiling because they smiled with their eyes.

"I felt very supported and encouraged despite the fact I couldn't see them."

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