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Parents of sick and premature newborns face days or weeks without being able to visit them in the neonatal units of the hospital due to Covid-19, The Guardian has learned.
The disparities in the hospital visitation guide mean that some parents have been unable to visit their babies, and one father said he was facing three months without seeing his son.
Initially, only patients in the hospital could be tested in the UK. The tests were then extended to NHS and nursing home staff. Now up to 10 million essential workers and their families showing coronavirus symptoms can request a test through a government website.
The essential worker list is the same one used to allow the children of key workers to continue going to school during closure. In addition to health and social work personnel, the list includes teachers, judges, some lawyers, religious personnel, and journalists who provide public broadcasting services.
Also included are local officials, the police, armed service personnel, fire and rescue service personnel, immigration officers, and prison and probation personnel. Some of the private sector staff also qualify, including veterinarians, food production, essential financial services and information technology, as well as those working in the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors.
Matthew Weaver
A national charity is now urging the secretary of health to ensure rapid testing across the board for parents of newborns forced to self-isolate due to coronavirus symptoms experienced by them or a member of their household.
Bliss, who supports families of premature or sick babies, has launched a campaign, Parents Aren’t Visitors, which also asks Matt Hancock to present a support package for parents facing visitation restrictions and financial pressures due to the pandemic.
The government said any mother admitted to the hospital who has a baby in a neonatal unit will automatically be screened for Covid-19, whether symptomatic or not, but the parents spoke of the distress of having to isolate themselves from their baby as a measure of caution. .
Kayleigh Anthony, 29, of Cwmbran in Wales, was separated for fifteen days from her three-week-old daughter. She was advised to isolate herself for 14 days because her husband had a cough and fever, which means he was unable to see baby Eva, who was born 11 weeks premature on March 7.
She said: “It was horrible, I was calling the hospital five times a day to see if it was okay. My husband had to be quarantined for seven days as well, so a week went by without seeing any of us. A nurse was by her side, but I felt guilty that I wasn’t there to feed her and change her. “
Anthony was finally able to bring Eva home last Thursday. “When I finally saw her again, she had changed a lot.”
Another mother who lost one of her twins in the womb experienced more trauma when she was unable to see her surviving baby because she had been in contact with a relative who tested positive for Covid-19.
Zoe Llewellyn’s son Louis weighed 0.62 kg (1 lb 6 oz) when he was born on December 17. She said: “We had quite a few scares with him, he had infections and blood transfusions. Just when he was getting better and we were going to take him home, Covid hit. ”
Llewellyn, 38, of Derby, who also has nine-year-old twins, said they had to delay Louis’s return home after she isolated herself. In late March, she was called to help her 90-year-old grandmother who had fallen and then died after testing positive for Covid-19 while in the hospital.
Llewellyn explained: “We believe that she contracted the virus in the hospital after I saw her, but since it could not be confirmed, they told me to isolate myself for 14 days.”
She pleaded for a Covid test so that she could continue seeing her son, now four and a half months, but was told it was not an option. “It was really annoying, I was worried that he would forget me and that he would miss seeing his first smile. It was very painful to think about missing those first milestones.”
Bliss said rapid tests for affected parents could prevent them from missing essential bonding time with their babies.
The charity’s petition to ministers also calls for a fund to cover expenses, which has been in place in Scotland since 2018, to be implemented in the rest of the UK, and calls for free parking for parents of sick babies in addition to acceleration. of the plans. for neonatal licensing, which will currently be implemented in the spring of 2023.
Josie Anderson, campaign manager at Bliss, said: “Parents are not visitors but key people in caring for their babies. We are aware of a small number of units that can already provide rapid testing, which can significantly reduce the separation of up to two weeks to a couple of days once a negative test is returned. “
One in seven babies born in the UK needs neonatal care with an estimated 300 admitted daily to specialized units. Bliss said the number of families seeking their support had doubled since the pandemic.
Official guidance means that hospitals must reduce the number of visitors to the site and only one parent at a time can visit. Some units request a designated parent, and others restrict the amount of time they can spend with their newborn to just two hours a day.
Stephen Croft’s baby Theodore was born on March 13 at 25 weeks. Fifteen days after his birth, the unit changed its policy to a nominated visitor for each baby, meaning that only the mother can visit as the named father.
Croft, whose baby is expected to remain in the hospital until the end of June, said: “Lindsay goes to the hospital to be with him every day while I spend my days at home waiting for photos and updates. I feel like they’ve taken a little out of my heart. “
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Assistance said: “Any mother admitted to the hospital who has a baby placed in the neonatal unit will be automatically screened for Covid-19, whether they show symptoms or not.”
The government confirmed that it will also introduce legislation to authorize parents with children in neonatal units up to 12 weeks of leave and pay, subject to eligibility.
Parents seeking support can contact Bliss by email at [email protected] or visit her website.
