Best silver lining today was my patient who told me, despite all that was going on, at least she could wear her yoga pants all day to work! I loved that! In times of uncertainty and fear, sometimes we have to rely on humor and optimism to be our best.
I have seen a lot of kindness and concern which has been so inspiring! I think health care workers are really taking this crisis very hard so please think of them as you would a soldier in a battle. Fortunately, I am closely connected to the medical community in Orange County and receive frequent updates from hospitals around the county. Hats off to all our nurses, environmental services, medical assistants, scrub technicians, pharmacists, X-ray and ultrasound technicians and of course physician assistants and physicians who are on our front lines in this fight. A special shout out to our paramedics, EMTs, and fire fighters-- who are literally on those front lines in a war against a wily enemy. The fact they show up for work exemplifies bravery.
My sweet patient brought me a tumeric immunity boost today, and I just can't tell you how much it meant. She said, "I need you well!" It was just the "boost" I needed this week when I have been doubting my instincts, my training and my education. Sometimes, it truly is the thought that counts, I don't mind a little extra tumeric either. Don't worry, we will be fine and we will be there for you--- doing what we know how to do. I want everyone else to be able to do this too. If you have access to personal protective equipment ( such as N95 masks from a old paint project etc. ), please let me know and I will get it to those people on the front lines in this fight.
A lot of patients have asked about resources online to replace some of our traditional prenatal classes. I am working on this and will post some resources tomorrow.
One book I can recommend is: Bumpin' By Leslie Schock
Another concern today was not being able to have visitors with ultrasound appointments. Again, this is to protect our office, your visitors and our patients. We are happy if you would like to record the ultrasound or FaceTime after initial evaluation is done with close family. We promise to give you lots of still pictures to "show off" as well.
Some people have expressed concern about Hoag Hospital having patients with Covid-19. I guarantee that every single hospital in California has at least one case today and soon will have many cases of confirmed Covid-19. The hospital's ability to be prepared for the influx of patients has been on the forefront of my mind and I am working with hospital administration, nursing, and other physicians to continue to keep our L&D and postpartum unit as protected as possible.
As far as data in pregnancy goes, again it is so limited I am hesitant to say much. From the very small studies done in China ( literally 16 patients total) we believe the virus does not seem to be more virulent in pregnant mothers. However, we do not have clear data on newborns and their outcomes. Therefore, in an abundance of caution, we recommend all pregnant women do they best they can to avoid exposure to this virus. Please let your doctor know if you have been exposed AND have symptoms such as fever or cough so we can try to get you a Cover-19 test.
Please stay home and avoid any absolutely unnecessary exposures. We think the virus can be asymptomatic for approximately 5 days and live on surfaces up to 2-3 days. Hence, it is very contagious and tricky!!! Please read my previous posts on information regarding the virus.
