COVID hospital rules are creating anxiety for fathers and mothers alike

New hospital COVID-19 regulations, limiting the time new fathers can spend with their partner and child, have been described as “ridiculous” by some parents.

One expectant father, whose child is due in April, spoke to MaltaToday about the new regulations at Mater Dei Hospital.

Under the new rules, expectant fathers are allowed to be with the mother during childbirth. However, they must leave the hospital straight after, when the mother is transferred to another ward for postnatal treatment.

“Using the word ‘visitors’ to categorise us fathers is demeaning… This is something special for us; it is special for both the mother and the father,” he told this newspaper.

“Of course, the mother is doing all the work, and the only thing the father can do in this case is to be there for moral support. Now we’re being deprived of that also.”

He said being treated as a visitor was ridiculous because he wasn’t going to be to ‘visiting’ his partner; he would be there to provide support and help take care of their child. “It’s different when you visit someone in the hospital who’s sick. I am not trying to compare because they are two different scenarios. But we should not be categorized as visitors. We are part of the experience; we’re a family at the end of the day.”

He said the rules have been causing him and his partner a lot of anxiety. “I’m trying not to think about it. I cannot change the rules, so I’m just trying to put it in the back of my mind. So there is no point in me being super-anxious about it when I can’t change it. At the end of the day, I don’t want to make it out like it’s all about me when the mother is going through a lot more.”

He said he could not understand why someone who tests negative to COVID-19 could not be by his partner’s side. “I’ve been home for the past month. I’m barely visiting any of my family, especially since the COVID-19 situation got out of hand in Malta.”

Hospital staff informed the father the measures were in place to safeguard staff, and patients using the room right after them. “It doesn’t make any sense. They said the rooms were going to be cleaned after every use; if that’s true, then what does it matter?” he asked.

Fathers will have an hour every day to visit mothers. “It’s better than nothing but it doesn’t justify it either. I don’t need an hour to infect someone... just 15 minutes. It doesn’t make sense.”

The couple will be carrying out a last-minute shop before their due date, to then hold up in their home by themselves after the delivery of the baby. “We won’t be going out, and nobody is coming home to visit,” the prospective father said.

On its part, Mater Dei Hospital has said that while it appreciated that mothers and birthing partners wish to see no changes to current visiting arrangements, the hospital had no option but to reduce visiting times following delivery to one hour per day. “The hospital is constrained to reduce possible exposure to unvaccinated mothers and newborns, and to take all measures to reduce the risk of positive cases in the obstetrics wards, leading to lack of staff due to quarantine.”

MDH said the decision was taken in the best interest of mothers and newborns, given the presence of the UK variant of COVID 19, which has increased the risk of infection.