How To Safely Home Birth During The Pandemic

Click here for the latest coronavirus news, which the BDN has made free for the public. You can support our critical reporting on the coronavirus by purchasing a digital subscription or donating directly to the newsroom. Pregnancy in the age of COVID-19 can raise a number of complicated, unexpected questions. With hospitals preparing for a boom of coronavirus cases and anxieties over potential transmission in institutions caring for infected patients, more pregnant Mainers are considering home birth. “I think people are desperate to stay out of the hospital, both because they are trying to avoid infection and reduce pressure on the hospital system,” said Holly Arends Murphy, a midwife at Birch Moon Midwifery & Lactation Care in Penobscot. [Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county] Susi Delaney, a midwife at Red Tent Midwifery, said that limitations on the number of people that can be present for a birth at the hospital may also contribute to the increased interest in home birth during the age of the coronavirus. “Most hospitals in the state have a limited number of people that can come into the hospital,” Delaney said.