The healthy birth of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds’s son can help provide reassurance for anxious pregnant women, a leading obstetrician has said.
Giving birth can be a cause of anxiety even without a worldwide pandemic. There has also been data – albeit inconclusive – from China suggesting Covid-19 could be increasing the rate of premature births.
But Dr Jo Mountfield, a consultant obstetrician and vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), said the fact that Symonds and the baby were said to be doing “very well” despite him apparently arriving early should help to soothe fears.
“The vast majority of pre-term babies will do well because they are well looked after within highly skilled neonatal units,” she said. “People will need to be reassured by that and that their baby will get the same care as Boris’s baby.
“She [Symonds] would get no different neonatal care, that’s the beauty of the NHS. If you have a pre-term baby and you’re from a socially deprived BAME [Black, Asian and minority ethnic] background you will get the same treatment. She might get better food but maybe not even that.”
Stressing that risks were low, Mountfield said there were differences to the birthing process during the Covid-19 crisis that Symonds, Johnson and others were experiencing to protect staff, patients and newborns.
Expectant mothers entering hospitals will be questioned about their health and given temperature checks or even full-blown coronavirus tests, while physical distancing will restrict movement once inside.
Although there have been concerns that some partners are being excluded from the birthing process, No 10 said Johnson was present. And Mountfield stressed that if a partner was healthy – the prime minister has fully recovered from coronavirus – the strong recommendation was they should be at the birth, although limited to “active labour” and the birth itself.
“That helps support women,” she said. “It’s a very anxious time, the outcome is clearly better psychologically for women.”
Mountfield said one of the most noticeable differences giving birth during the pandemic was the sight of staff wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). “Communication is not as easy and clear for professionals with face masks,” she said.
The level of PPE would vary according to the type of birth so, for example, a caesarean requiring a general anaesthetic would require the highest degree of protection, she said.
Johnson may also have been limited in the time he could spend with mother and baby after the birth. Postnatal wards are placing restrictions on visitors and, assuming the baby was pre-term, it would be in a neonatal unit. These also have visiting restrictions but Mountfield said some had introduced remote links that enabled communication with staff and allowed family members – including those not permitted to visit – to see the newborn.
She said there was an increased focus on mental health after the birth, given the unprecedented circumstances. “We are very concerned about the impact on women’s mental health – we know in these particular times that’s a risk.”
Clare Livingstone, a professional policy adviser at the Royal College of Midwives, said midwives were doing their best to alleviate fears surrounding pregnancy and birth, exacerbated by the lockdown and associated financial pressures.
“Life does go on and it’s lovely news that the baby’s arrived safely,” she said. “These are worrying times if you are pregnant. Midwives are doing their best to keep things as normal as possible for prospective parents.”