Here’s how to have that conversation about relatives not getting to see your newborn

Pregnancy in a pandemic is one of the complex challenges that many moms around the world are facing right now. 

With normal things like doctor visits and baby showers being far from normal, the pandemic has unfortunately also impacted relative’s and friend’s ability to see babies for the first time. This, on top of the fact that due to the pandemic hospitals, and by extension maternity wards, are not allowing patient visitations.

Also Read: Newborn conditions that don’t need you to go to the ER

Here’s how to share the news that even after you leave the hospital – they are unlikely to get to meet your baby in person:

Be honest about your feelings

If you’ve taken a stance that you’d like to manage the risk of exposure to both yourself and your baby as much as possible by not allowing in-person visits – say that. Support that with the reasons why you’ve taken the decision.

Also Read: What no one prepares you for when bringing your newborn home

Highlight that its also upsetting for you

Share with your family and friends that you would also have loved the opportunity to celebrate your new baby with them but the pandemic has had an impact on everyday things. Remind each other that it’s not permanent and they will see the baby later on as lockdown levels are lifted and they will be able to visit.

Suggest alternative ways of connecting

Technology has been the saving grace for many of the challenges we’ve faced during this pandemic and there are ways that it can help your family keep in touch with you and baby. Try the 1 second a day app, which is a video diary that makes it easy to take your day-to-day moments and create a movie out of them. 

You can send friends and family the videos so they can feel like they are keeping up with your “bringing baby home experience”. For those who absolutely have to see baby, try the window waves, where they get to see the baby through a window.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.