GIVING birth after testing positive for Covid-19 is a nerve-wracking experience, postpartum mothers said.

Additionally, there is the anxiety of isolation and being separated from their newborn, some mothers told The Malaysian Insight.

First comes the worry at being discovered positive for the coronavirus while pregnant. And then more distress when they cannot even hold the baby after giving birth as they have to be immediately placed in quarantine.

Ranee Kwok, who had such an experience, was initially scheduled to have her delivery at a private hospital. She was transferred to the Sg Buloh Hospital, a designated Covid-19 hospital, for treatment and delivery.

Five days after giving birth, she still has not seen her child. The photographs she has posted on her Facebook of her baby were sent to her by a hospital staff.

“I have not seen my baby till today,” she said when met on the fifth day after her delivery.

Unlike the births of her other children, Kwok said she could not go home after delivery, nor could she have family members visit her or take care of her.

“I am all on my own,” she said, because of the need to be isolated due to Covid-19.

Her baby, meanwhile, was born prematurely and is in the neonatal intensive care unit.

When she is finally discharged, Kwok will undergo postpartum confinement at home.

She has no plans to go out, out of concern for herself and her newborn.

Where other Chinese mothers typically have someone else prepare their meals during their confinement period, Kwok has decided she will cook for herself. She does not even want to order food from outside catering for fear of re-infection, especially with a newborn.

Another mother, Soh Chia Hui, said her Covid-19 infection was discovered during pre-admission screening.

While she was calm after learning her positive result, she was worried for the baby.

“The first thought was not of myself, but the baby.”

In hospital, she was isolated in a room and prevented from stepping out.

Soh felt immense relief when after birth, the doctor told her her child was safe and normal.

“My symptoms are relatively mild, so I feel okay at the moment. I can still be on the phone and walk around,” she said, adding that she also plans to manage her postpartum confinement period on her own.

“Initially, I was going to order my confinement meals, but I’ve changed my mind.”

Isolation is necessary

Johor-based paediatrician Dr Tan Peng Ji said babies born to Covid-19-positive mothers must be separated from other infants.

“We will not put the baby of the confirmed patient with other babies,” he said.

The baby and the Covid-19-positive mother are usually quarantined for the same number of days but there are cases when they are discharged at different times. When that happens, the baby is still not allowed to have physical contact with the mother.

Apart from a nurse who feeds the baby, no one else is allowed into the baby’s quarantine room.

Tan said he felt was quite sad for these babies who are alone in a quarantine room with no one to cuddle them when they cry, as their cries cannot be heard from outside the room.

“These babies just came from the warmth of their mother’s womb to an unfamiliar world but they are all alone, without parents by their side,” he said.

In the case of babies who get Covid-19 from their mothers, they are hospitalised for further treatment.

“The parents will not get to see the child for three weeks,” he added.

The closest the baby’s family can get is to see it from a distance away, while wearing personal protective equipment.

A postpartum confinement centre worker who gave her name as Wong, said industry players will not take in mothers who are Covid-19-positive.

Both parents have to test negative, said Wong of the True Love Confinement Centre in Setia Alam.

“When the father visits his wife and new baby, he must sanitise and clean himself before coming into contact with them. Other visitors are also not allowed,” Wong said. – May 30, 2021.