Doulas in New York City are preparing to go digital

Two New York City hospital systems are barring anyone except the person in labor from the delivery room, including spouses, partners, and family members. People giving birth will have to go at it alone, which the hospitals say is necessary to protect patient safety during the COIVD-19 pandemic. The rules were instituted by New York-Presbyterian and Mount Sinai Health System, which have dozens of facilities in the New York area and together deliver nearly 20,000 babies a year. Neither hospital system is allowing visitors for adult patients, in general, which they say is to lower the risk of COIVD-19 spread in the facilities.

“We encourage visitors to remain closely connected to their loved ones through virtual means,” the New York-Presbyterian policy reads. The rules are controversial; a petition against their use during delivery already has nearly 400,000 signatures. “It’s heartbreaking to hear people can’t be supported, even by partners,” says Elizabeth Mekuria, a New York City-based doula. Doulas aren’t medical professionals, but they provide support and guidance to people during pregnancy and delivery.

Faced with the reality that access to delivery rooms will be limited for the foreseeable future, doulas like Mekuria are figuring out ways to support people giving birth when they can’t be physically in the room. Some, like Karla Pippa, co-founder at NYC Birth Village, already offer virtual services. “We have families across the country who may not have access to doulas, who are interested,” she says. “I do feel that, now that we’re being pushed to really figure out the online support, we can still be effective.

” Pippa says she uses video chat and phone check-in calls with families who are remote. “Often families will bring in a laptop or iPad, or will get something that can hook onto the hospital bed. ” The scale of the outbreak in New York and the new hospital policies mean shifting everyone into that system. “We have people due in the next week or two, and we’ll have to deal with this.

They’re very overwhelmed,” she says. “Under the circumstances, the medical system says it’s warranted. We need to be prepared for it to last a while. ” Mekuria’s current clients don’t have due dates until May, but she is preparing to use video chat and phone for those deliveries if she needs to.