Childbirth and COVID-19

Keeping Expecting Mothers and Newborns Safe at NNRH

by Cinda Peurala, Director of Women's Services

Pregnancy always comes with its share of anxiety and fear, but the COVID-19 pandemic has added a new layer of concerns for expecting families. If you will be delivering a baby during the pandemic, you likely have many questions about how delivery in the hospital may be different right now and how you can keep yourself and your baby healthy.

Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital (NNRH) has always taken great pride in caring for expecting mothers and their babies and making sure that our community has access to great obstetrics care. This dedication to our region’s growing families has continued throughout the pandemic and will go on long after this health crisis has passed.

We are committed to making sure that all moms and babies have the safest birthing experience possible, and we are taking every necessary precaution to protect our families in labor and delivery from exposure to COVID-19. We can ensure that the risk of infection for mothers and their new babies is extremely low. Our extra precautions mean that some aspects of delivery will be as expected, but some may be a little different. The two main changes most families will experience are visitor restrictions and limited entry points to the hospital. 

As part of our COVID-19 preparedness efforts, we have moved to a zero-visitor protocol hospital-wide. However, laboring and postpartum mothers are an exception to this rule. These women may have one healthy adult with them for their delivery and the duration of their hospital stay. This means that every woman will be able to have a single companion for as long as they are in the hospital. However, visits between the new baby and siblings or other loved ones will have to wait until mom and baby leave the hospital.

Our COVID-19 preparedness efforts have also limited entry to the hospital, closing some of our typical entrances. This means that expecting mothers and their support person should plan to access the facility through the Emergency Department Entrance.

Additional measures NNRH is taking to support and ensure the safety of our expecting mothers and newborns include:

• Screening all OB patients and companions upon arrival for COVID-19 and other illnesses.
• Isolating any COVID-19-positive patients away from expecting mothers.
• Requiring facemasks for all patients, companions and hospital staff members.
• Discharging obstetrics patients after 24 hours for vaginal deliveries and 48 hours for cesarean deliveries, as long as mom and baby are both doing well.
• Offering remote lactation support.

These measures have been implemented with great care, and we will continue to update them with the health and safety of our expecting mothers and families in mind.

In a time of uncertainty, the one thing all of our expecting families can be sure of is that our experienced OB staff members stand ready to help you on your journey to bring new life into the world. We are here to support you and keep you safe – today and every day the future holds. 

You can find more information about COVID-19 and how NNRH is responding here.

Cinda Peurala, RN, MSN, MPA, is the Director of Women’s Services at Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital. She has worked in healthcare for three decades and is dedicated to providing expecting mothers with the safest, healthiest and most joyous birthing experience possible.