We were not treated as parents, Covid inquiry told

A mother of twin children prematurely told Kovid inquiries that she did not feel that she was treated as a parent after giving birth in the early stages of the epidemic.

Tamsin Mulen said that he was kept in a side room for 27 hours after giving birth by the Caesarean section, while his sons were taken for newborn intensive care.

He said that “rigid” sanctions meant that, for the next month, only one parents were allowed to visit their newborns at a time.

“We needed a hospital to understand that we were a family,” he said in investigation.

“We did not feel like a mother and father for our children the way we should have done.”

The covid probe is taking evidence about the impact on maternity services as part of its third section, or module, examining the effects on NHS and healthcare.

The mother of three, Ms. Mulene, 13 pregnancy, children and parents’ organizations were giving “influence” evidence.

She came to know that she was expecting twin boys in 2019 and was considered a high risk. When pregnant with her first child, she is detected pre -praympasia – a condition that can cause hypertension and cause serious complications.

Her pregnancy was being closely monitored with scans every week because there were concerns about the development of one of the infants.

She initially said that her husband was able to accompany her to scan the appointments, but as Kovid spread in March 2020, she was forced to wait in the car park after driving at a distance of 50 miles from her home to the nearest hospital.

“It was just before the lockdown was implemented,” he said.

“I was very nervous. It was very difficult to do that knowing alone (pregnancy) was high risk. ,

In April 2020, Ms. Mulen’s two sons were born before the time, in 34 weeks, by the Caesarean section.

Her husband was able to stay with her in the operating theater and then in the recovery room for an hour, before the Kovid sanctions were told, which meant that she would have to leave.

His two young boys then spent a total of 31 days in newborn intensive care, before they could be discharged.

Ms. Malen said that the Kovid sanctions meant that only one parents could be with them at a time, even they were taken to a room away from other infants.

The hospital had stopped access to the side room used for breastfeeding and Ms. Mulen said she was asked to use a toilet to express milk, something that she did not want to do due to the risk of infection.

He said that when both parents lived together and were going to the hospital every morning in the same car, the ban was “shocking”.

She was looking at both infants in intensive care when hospital staff from outside the unit told her that they had conducted a positive test for a bacterial infection called MRSA.

“I was catching my son who was on oxygen at the time,” he said.

“I was in a state of shock, so didn’t really say much. He (staff) left me and I was there on my own.

“I didn’t know what it meant, so I really got nervous.”

Later a doctor explained that the form of MRSA involved was a low severe type that could be treated with soap and water.

“We did not feel that we were considered as a parents. It was as if we were visitors, and we were visiting two patients,” he said.

Later, the Chief Executive Officer of Lori Trust conducted an inquiry from Jenny Ward, who presides over the pregnancy and baby charity network.

He said that, before Kovid, most of the parents would have a newborn intensive care of 24/7 unrestricted access to their young children.

It was not in England and Scotland until April 2022, and in Wales in May 2022, that guidance returned.

He said that the decision to suspend the journey from March 2020 for a large number of maternity services was “extremely harmful”.

He said that during the prenatal scan, restrictions had a particularly negative impact on some women who had to receive bad news about their child’s health.

For most of the epidemic, pregnant women were often told that they were allowed only a berthing partner to be present in the so -called “active” labor.

As a result, some were left alone in a personal berthing room without someone else, “to advocate for them, to say that they seem in extreme pain”, Ms. Ward told the investigation.

After giving birth, others had to overcome surgery in the hospital, while without a newborn, their partners were able to appear.