"No one touches the baby and goes home."

BarcelonaAlicia Andrés He remembers the "tension" and "fear" that were experienced in the hospital. On March 12, 2020, she gave birth to her first child, Liam. A nurse entered the room in tears and told her and her partner that no one was to touch the baby and that they should hurry home. Alicia's parents had driven from Málaga, where they live, to meet their first grandchild. The next day, they were retracing their steps to return before the roads were closed. On March 14, 2020, a state of emergency was declared due to the COVID pandemic. Gemma was separated from her daughter She was only born because she tested positive for COVID. I could only pick her up to breastfeed her. According to the restrictive protocol that was then in place and later relaxed, babies had to be separated from COVID-positive mothers, skin-to-skin contact was not allowed, they were forced to maintain a distance of two meters between the bed and the crib, and the umbilical cord was cut early. Laura gave birth alone, was strapped down during the C-section, was not allowed to hold her daughter, and found no help with the difficult breastfeeding process.

During the COVID pandemic, now five years old, pregnant women also suffered the consequences of a virus about which little or nothing was known. "I still have patients from that time who developed post-traumatic stress disorder and it has been very difficult for them to get over it. Women with physical after-effects still present and also with psychological after-effects, who have not wanted to have more children so as not to go through the same thing again, or others who have come in for a second pregnancy with a couples therapist.

Other after-effects include loss of trust in healthcare professionals, avoidance of sex, anger, or rejection of anything related to pregnancies or babies. Paola Roig, a perinatal psychologist, also notes that five years later they continue to see "women who suffered traumatic parts and obstetric violence due to Covid, problems with attachment or guilt..." Roig believes that during the pandemic this population group was not sufficiently taken into account and recalls that it was a time when mental health "was due to mental health."

Parts intervened

There are women who gave birth alone, were separated from their babies, or suffered obstetric violence for the sake of safety, fear, and uncertainty.. During the pandemic, "things were done that hadn't been done for years, and in a very imposed way, without women being able to participate as active participants in decision-making," says París. "There were also highly supervised parts and processes were accelerated to shorten hospital stays. Situations that may not seem so serious but must be framed within a vulnerable moment for the woman," adds this psychologist.

Gemma Cazorla is a midwife who worked at the Parc Taulí Hospital in Sabadell in 2020. She explains that women who gave birth then and have subsequently had another pregnancy "compare them a lot." "They remember that five years ago they experienced a situation of stress, fear, and many restrictions on ultrasounds, visits, a lot of loneliness, and a lot of telephone support," explains Cazorla. "We were so afraid, including the professionals, that there was no naturalness; there were very forced situations."

Remember, especially, The case of Gemma, the first pregnant woman with COVID who gave birth in Parc Taulí on April 2, 2020. "I could practically not touch my daughter; I would pick her up with gloves and a mask to breastfeed her and then have to put her down again. Seeing it was very hard, and experiencing it, even harder." At that time, there were 800 COVID patients in the hospital and a single floor shared by high-risk pregnant patients, women who had just given birth, and pediatric patients. This floor was dubbed Noah's Ark. "Actions were taken without knowing about a pandemic, and we were as restrictive as possible for fear of contagion. I'm sorry, but everything was done because we believed it was the way to not spread the virus," she explains.

Postpartums in solitude

The lockdown exacerbated the loneliness of postpartum, and some women, explains Paris, developed anxiety symptoms for fear that they, their partner, or the baby would catch COVID. Other women experienced it as "a gift": an opportunity to bond with their partner and baby, to take care of themselves, or to avoid unwanted family intrusion. Still others experienced it with grief for not being able to share a pregnancy, which remained almost hidden, or because it took weeks for family and friends to meet their nieces, nephews, or grandchildren. "And that's a significant loss. There are women who needed a tribe and couldn't have it," notes Paris.

The start of Alicia's quarantine coincided with the start of lockdown. She had no breastfeeding support or emotional support. All courses and groups for mothers were suspended. Her son was born with a heart condition, and it took six months for them to see him. "I was left with the thorn of not being able to have a normal postpartum period, and I can't get rid of it now," she says. After Liam, she suffered the loss of two pregnancies, and on March 13, 2023, her second child was born prematurely at 27 weeks gestation. "I had hoped to repair the first postpartum, but that wasn't possible either," she explains, now with acceptance.

While the healing process will depend on each person, Paris explains that after any traumatic experience, the "first step is for others to acknowledge this experience." Phrases like "nothing's wrong," "you're healthy," "you have a beautiful child" don't help... "There are women who are very grateful for having their children but also think they've paid a high price, that going through that part has broken something inside them that they can't repair, and it's about learning to live with this."

These days, children born during the most restrictive lockdown are celebrating their fifth birthday. And it's normal for this to stir up trouble, bring bittersweet memories, or generate discomfort in some women if they suffered traumatic moments. "It stirs up trouble because there are a mix of feelings. There's joy in seeing your child grow, but it's also the anniversary of something serious that happened to you," says Paris. And what should those around them do? "Well, say that they feel bad, that yes, it was a bitch, and give space to express it without feeling judged and not say that they should have gotten over it by now, because maybe there will always be a thorn," concludes Iliana Paris.