By Kate Ryder, Maven’s Founder and CEO
I've been hearing the term "the new normal" recently to describe our current world more and more. Though we are certainly in a very new place, there is nothing normal about this. How we are living is incredibly abnormal.
As we go through one of the most challenging weeks yet, the work that our team at Maven is doing has been a bright spot for me. Many of our members—going through fertility treatments, pregnancy, or early parenthood—are living anxiously in this new abnormal.
Pregnant women across the country—and around the world—are facing the possibility of going through labor without the doulas or other individuals they had lined up to support them. I am living with my sister, who is 8 months pregnant, and where she’ll deliver and with whom is a constant topic of anxious discussion at our dinner table. Our Care Advocates on Maven are fielding questions around whether to have a home birth, or if mothers in hospitals will be separated from their baby if they test positive for COVID-19. Grandparents are wondering when the joy of meeting their grandchild will be worth the risk of falling ill. Fertility patients are seeing IVF and egg freezing cycles postponed and wondering if they can afford to wait. Parents who have lost childcare are now at home caring for babies, homeschooling older children, and working—all at once. Others have lost their jobs and are wondering how they’ll afford rent.
A lot is uncertain right now, but one thing is clear: Due to the influx of COVID-19 patients and the need to limit the spread of the virus, Americans with critical healthcare needs outside of COVID-19 will struggle to get the support they need over the coming months. The crisis is already having an impact on pregnancy, fertility, and pediatrics.
Many OB-GYNs have reduced in-person visits, raising the possibility that complications and risks may go undetected. Hospitals are triaging all but the most urgent support requirements, reducing postpartum stays and support for critical but non-life-threatening care during and after pregnancy. Routine pediatric care and wellness visits have been disrupted. Last week was my daughter’s second birthday, and I’m constantly worried that she or my rowdy three-year-old son may fall and need emergency pediatric help.
“A lot is uncertain right now, but one thing is clear: Due to the influx of COVID-19 patients and the need to limit the spread of the virus, Americans with critical healthcare needs outside of COVID-19 will struggle to get the support they need over the coming months. The crisis is already having an impact on pregnancy, fertility, and pediatrics.”
These care gaps will lead to increased costs and productivity losses for employers during an already challenging period. The difficulties for parents working from home without childcare are clear. But there are less obvious consequences, too. As high-risk pregnancies get less attention, the incidence of postpartum complications and avoidable C-sections are likely to rise. And as women get less support during and after childbirth, they may be more likely to experience postpartum depression and perhaps find themselves less able to transition back to work, despite wishing to do so.
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