Victoria gave birth to Eden two weeks ago in the midst of the pandemic, so her husband and mother were not able to be with her as planned, though Joe was with her for active labour and the birth. The birth was complicated, resulting in an emergency c-section, where Victoria lost a lot of blood, but the baby was delivered safely. A frightening experience for an anxious first time mother, they then had to stay in for a further week as both mother and baby had an infection and needed antibiotics.
“The thought of being alone in hospital made me very emotional, wondering how I would care for this little life by myself. As soon as I came out of surgery, I was tested for Covid-19 as my temperature was very high. It was negative but I was still very weak and poorly. While waiting for the blood transfusion, a midwife shouted at me for not picking up my baby when he needed me, saying she wasn’t going to do it for me. I was scared at how I would cope if I didn’t recover quickly. The transfusion gave me some energy but overall recovery was slow and I’m still not quite back to myself.
That said, the midwives were absolutely fantastic towards the end of my stay at Barnet Hospital and I will always remember Annie, in particular, who went above and beyond to take care of us and lift my spirits at a very low time.
Being home with Eden, Joe and our dog is the most beautiful feeling. We’re certainly making up for that week we had apart! My husband has been incredible, waiting on me hand and foot, whilst working full time from home! I was so grateful for his presence in hospital, he was so reassuring, holding my hand throughout the pain and panic, and he was able to bond with the baby for the first two hours of his life.
The toughest part about having a newborn during this pandemic, is that our parents will never know what it felt like to hold our tiny baby or smell his lovely newborn smell. The silver lining though is that Joe is working from home and around a lot more to spend time with our little man.”
Joe is a Graduate Quantity Surveyor. Luckily his company were extremely supportive from the start of the pandemic, allowing him to work from home when the guidance was given for pregnant women to self-isolate. Victoria is a primary schoolteacher.
