VOA常速英语:新冠病毒肆虐,孕妇如何应对

Strict quarantine has been imposed in most of the US. And elective surgeries have been postponed to free up hospitals, but some things cannot be rescheduled, for example, giving birth. We understand why there are so much precaution. The doctors and nurses are getting sick as well and it's not fair to them and their short staff, we get all of that and it's, and it's really hard, so it's also personal to us, though so it's hard to, you know, to balance the two together between people's safety and then our emotions and what were going through so. Sonia Menon and Jason Shelley are expecting their first child in just a few weeks. Like many couples, they hope to be together when the baby is born, something that's widely practiced in the US. However, due to the pandemic, one by one New York City hospitals stopped allowing the womans partner to be present in the maternity ward.

Tell me to be present for the birth of my child. I don't know how to put the words. How much why that's so important. Facebook groups dedicated to the topic have been welcoming new members. On top of sharing their worries and experience, they shared blogs and articles dedicated to home births. Within days the pressure from the scared women got to a critical point as an online petition was signed by hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. The states Governor Andrew Cuomo then issued an order allowing one companion into the maternity ward. Expectant mothers in New York felt relieved, however, all future parents have to follow a strict procedure. Before being admitted, both parents get expressed tested for convid-19 and will be retested every 12 hours until the birth. If the partner remains negative, they will be allowed inside. They did say that if Sonia tests positive, she would be separated from the baby pretty much if as soon as she's born. So that they can take care of the baby and try to prevent the spread to the baby. Pregnant women are believed to be in the risk group. University of California San Francisco has started new research concerning pregnant women infected with convid-19, there are already hundreds of such cases. This is a brand new virus, and so we have almost no information published in the medical literature about the impact of this virus on pregnant women and their newborns. With so much uncertainty and anxiety, pregnant women go through these days, doctors advise those who plan to start a family soon to postpone their plans for a while. Anna Nelson in New York Anna Rice VOA news