Pregnant in a pandemic

So we’ve found ourselves pregnant in a pandemic...it’s a strange mixture of excitement and uncertainty.

Luckily for us there have been many parents to have paved the way in the past year, hitting covid head on and giving us strength to learn from. I take my hat off to anyone who has given birth this year, and to all the midwives and maternity health care workers who have had to navigate through these strange times. 

Our little girl is due in April, which still seems a long way off, and we are hoping that by then there will be some sort of ‘normality’. However, if this year has taught us anything, it will be a jarring lesson in going with the flow, not expecting too much from tomorrow. Maybe, in the end, this will be a good lesson to learn. 

So far our journey into parenthood has been a little bonkers...although our first daughter was born a few months before the initial lockdown, the vast majority of my maternity leave was restricted by covid. While there were moments where we were on our hands and knees (especially during the dreaded 4 month sleep regression), and I would have given my left arm for a coffee date with my mama friends, our experience was nothing on those who actually gave birth during the lockdown. Not only did they start the journey alone, they were then thrown into the fog of new parenthood like Bambies on ice, especially the first timers. 

The hope is that maternity and birth rights will soon return to what they were pre pandemic - where partners were able to be much more involved in both the pregnancy journey and the birth itself. Where antenatal and postnatal support was second to none. Where baby classes and socialisation for both the little ones and parents were part of the everyday routine. There are some wonderful movements out there currently fighting for this support - birthrights, pregnantthenscrewed and #butnotmaternity, to name a few. 

Speaking to a midwife, I was intrigued to find out if there were any sort of positives to come from being pregnant in a pandemic. She informed me that there was in fact an initial boom of chubby babies, where parents were forced to stay at home, without the distractions of visitors or trips out the house, so all they did was feed their babies. Enforced babymooning!

As we continue to navigate through our current pregnancy, I thought it would be really interesting to hear from some mamas who have first hand experience of birth and beyond in our covid climate. The hope is that their experiences will be relatable to those of you reading our blog who have similar stories to tell, and for those of us who are currently on the journey, we can have a glimpse into what we may expect.

Our series of three will break down the journey into pregnancy, birth and beyond, written from the perspective of two incredible first time mums, Leah and Amber. Leah gave birth to the beautiful Erin back in May, and Amber gave birth to gorgeous twin girls, Elsie and Clara, back in July. 

Look out for the first article in the series, which will come out next week. It will be on our social channels, or sign up to our newsletter.