Get the Evidence You Need to Inform Your Decisions: Separation of Infants from Birthing Parents Who Are Suspected or Confirmed for Covid-19 Infection
New CfM Factsheet
New CfM Factsheet
Citizens for Midwifery has created a printable/shareable factsheet to help inform shared decision making and advocacy around the issue of infants being separated from birthing parents due to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection: “Get the Evidence You Need to Inform Your Decisions: Separation of Infants at Birth from Their Birthing Parent Who Is Suspected or Confirmed for COVID-19”
We hope home and birth center professionals will share this factsheet with their clients so they can be prepared if they need to transfer care. We hope childbirth educators and doulas and the public will share this information to help support their students, clients, and friends.
Here are some other resources on the topic:
Waiver: Evidenced Based Birth Sample Informed Consent Waiver on Separation.
Data on Outcomes: EBB is putting out weekly research summaries on COVID-19. These contain very helpful information on the emerging research on the rate of infection, severity, and transmission of infection for infants, pregnant and birthing people.
Media: Excellent article by Irin Carmon on separation of parents and their infants.,“‘They Separated Me From My Baby’ Hospitals are keeping newborns from their parents over coronavirus fears.” Importantly, the article centers the experience of a woman of color.
Why Continuing to Chest/Breastfeed and Skin-to-Skin Are So Important in a Pandemic: Evidence Based Birth Article Evidence on: Skin-To-Skin After Cesarean is focused on cesarean but the information on why skin-to-skin is important is applicable to all births.
ILCA Statement on Breastfeeding and Lactation Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic
UNICEF- Q&A on breastfeeding
Protocols, Recommendations and Guidelines: American Academy of Pediatrics: INITIAL GUIDANCE: Management of Infants Born to Mothers with COVID-19. April 2, 2020. -Recommends separation.
California Perinatal Quality Collaborative webinars- A new webinar from UC Davis is available. Provides an example of how a hospital is implementing CDC recommendations. Does include shared decision making update from CDC
Center for Disease Control (CDC) Recommendations as of Feb 18, 2020. These recommended separation of infants and birthing parents who were suspected or confirmed for COVID-19 infection. It mentioned discussing separation with the birthing parent and rooming-in if it was the“mother’s wishes” but did not specify shared-decision making should be utilized.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 4-4-20 Update: Interim Considerations for Infection Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Inpatient Obstetric Healthcare Settings. Recommendations now say separation should be done on a case-by-case basis and should utilize shared decision making with the patient.
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection in Pregnancy. Information for healthcare professionals” Version 7: Published April 9, 2020.
World Health Organization (WHO) “Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection when novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection is suspected. Interim guidance 13 March 2020”
WHO “Q&A on COVID-19, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding”
Visit the CfM COVID_19 Resource Page or our blog for further information and resources.