Mom unable to see newborn for week after testing positive for COVID

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A New York parent got the scare of her beingness aft learning she had COVID-19 minutes earlier undergoing an exigency Caesarean section.

Katelyn Marie of Rochester told WKBW that she was not allowed to spot her newborn girl for an full week.

"One of the astir traumatizing things that I've ever been through," Marie said.

Marie thought she had planned her 3rd child's commencement perfectly.

"I was readying a location commencement and I had a midwife successful Buffalo," she said.

When she arrived successful Buffalo connected Thursday, Nov. 4, she said she was getting a regular checkup done by her midwife.

"Some of my laboratory results looked a small funky, truthful she wanted maine to travel up with a fetal medicine doctor. I went to that assignment that time for an ultrasound, a accent test. That's erstwhile they discovered that determination was nary fluid astir the babe and determination was a deficiency of movement. That's wherefore they wanted maine to get to the infirmary close distant for further investigating to spot if she would travel retired oregon needed to enactment successful a fewer much days," she explained.

At 33 weeks, Marie was headed to the hospital.

"Since I was successful Buffalo, they said I had nary clip to thrust backmost location to Rochester."

That is erstwhile she learned she would beryllium undergoing an exigency C-section astatine Sisters of Charity Hospital successful Buffalo.

"So, they were prepping maine for the C-section. I was crying, trying to process each of this. They rapidly swabbed me. So, past we were conscionable waiting determination for that and it came backmost affirmative and I was successful daze due to the fact that one- I already had COVID astatine the opening of the twelvemonth and [two] I had nary symptoms."

However, what happened adjacent is thing Marie said she wants different expecting mothers to beryllium alert of.

"They fto maine clasp her. I had a c-section truthful I was connected the table. They fto maine clasp her for possibly a minute."

The babe was instantly taken into an isolated NICU, according to Marie.

"I was successful daze that nary 1 would beryllium capable to spot my baby, that they weren't making immoderate accommodations to effort to assistance america successful this situation. I couldn't judge what was happening and that this does happen," she said.

Unable to spot oregon interaction her baby, the caller parent said she and her hubby frantically tried to deliberation of ways for them to spot their newborn who was enactment successful an isolated NICU room.

"We already had a crippled program of what was going to hap since she was going to beryllium going to the NICU. Basically, my hubby was going to spell with her and my doula was going to travel with me, but past due to the fact that of this, they said my hubby was going to person to permission and spell get tested, if helium wanted to travel back. If his trial was negative, then, helium could travel backmost and beryllium with the babe but helium would not beryllium allowed to spot maine either way," she explained. "We asked if they could retest us. Retest me, archetypal of all, and if they tin trial him determination and they refused to bash immoderate testing."

Since her girl was calved premature, Marie said doctors told her that walking done the NICU with COVID-19 would beryllium risky.

A babe calved earlier 37 weeks of gestation is considered premature oregon calved excessively early," according to Stanford Children's Health. Many premature babies measurement little than 5 pounds, 8 ounces. Marie's girl was calved astatine 3.1 lbs.

"Just due to the fact that she's NICU and she has a enactment successful her belly for glucose truthful they can't instrumentality her retired of wherever she is close now," Marie said. "They said if she was afloat term, we would support her with you but due to the fact that she is not, and she has to spell to the NICU unit, you're a hazard walking done the unit. I said, 'Well, if I deterioration PPE done the unit, she's successful her ain room, she's isolated and she's successful a container herself,' but they would not bash it. They said, 'Nope.'"

She said she was not allowed to spot oregon interaction her girl for a week. She near the infirmary without her babe and headed backmost location to Rochester to attraction for her 2 different kids, portion her hubby stayed astatine the hospital.

"This is conscionable a look for postpartum depression. The interaction that this is going to person connected the baby, but besides the mother," she explained.

Marie adjacent took to Facebook to stock her traumatic experience:

That is until her lawyer called the infirmary threatening to writer connected Wednesday, Nov. 10.

"I conscionable privation different women to cognize what they are walking into erstwhile they locomotion into a infirmary to springiness birth. It's a truly scary thing. I didn't adjacent cognize that this was thing that could beryllium taken from me. A quality that grew wrong my body, that I carried. Now, those decisions are being made for me," Marie said. "The lone happening that feels frustrating astir each of this is that the moms are the ones paying the price. Dad gets to spell spot the babe if helium tin supply a antagonistic test."

Later Wednesday night, Marie told WKBW that she was capable to spot her girl and instantly hopped into her car and near for Buffalo. She said she was capable to spot her girl successful the NICU, with impervious of her antagonistic COVID-19 test.

Friday night, Marie told WKBW that she wants families to cognize these situations are not conscionable happening astatine Sisters for Charity Hospital, but different hospitals arsenic well. She added that the attraction has been large successful the NICU.

Once her girl gets stronger, she said the household plans to transportation her to a infirmary adjacent their location successful Rochester.

Catholic Health was capable to merchandise this connection successful regards to Marie's antithetic situation:

This communicative was primitively published by Pheben Kassahun astatine WKBW.