Midwifery During Pandemic

I never could have imagined how strange things would become. The life of a midwife is usually a busy one, but since the shelter in place has been initiated there has not been much "sheltering in" for this midwife. I am receiving 2-3 calls or emails almost daily asking if I have room on my calendar for one more delivery in April, May, June, etc...

The truth is that my calendar is full until December! There is no more of me to go around and it breaks my heart every time I have to turn someone away. I am referring them to other midwives but there are not enough of us to meet the demand. Parents are looking into the option of homebirth to avoid the issues of the current times, such as limited, or in some states, no support people at the hospital with mom while she is in labor. Part of me is bothered by the fact that homebirth has been generally frowned upon and now all of a sudden in a crisis it is a reasonable option to pregnant families. The other part of me is exited to think that this will help people realize the safety of homebirth for healthy moms and healthy babies. These are definitely strange times we are living in.

I am busier than ever now, just the general routine of keeping things sanitized in the office is extra work. Ordering medical supplies, supplements and herbs is taking two weeks longer for delivery if they even have what I need in stock. My awesome bookkeeper has become really creative and found some of my supplies in strange places like veterinary supply stores and small local businesses, thanks Erin! Going to births and doing home visits is almost funny considering that I have to sanitize anything that was in the home, change into clean clothes after each home and check to make sure no one is sick when I arrive at each house. Then when I get home I have to strip down in the garage, (really hoping one of the neighbors garage door openers is not set to the same frequency as mine) put on my robe that I leave in the garage and then go in and take a shower. The other day when I had to do home visits I had a total of 4 outfit changes, 2 showers and 4 disinfectant cycles of midwifery tools and supplies! I will be very glad when this is over.