Couple Shares How They Managed The First Postpartum Checkup During ECQ

Postpartum checkups are typically scheduled six weeks after giving birth or earlier. What can you do if you need your postpartum checkup at the hospital, but you don't have anyone else to leave your newborn with at home? Or it just so happens there is a pandemic? For one couple, it meant taking their baby with them.

Our loyal readers will recognize Joey Ong who made his own newborn face shield as an added protection for his son Joselito. He and his wife Ciara had a new dilemma: The wife needed a postpartum checkup, but they had no one to leave their newborn with at home. But bringing the baby to the hospital was also dangerous, right? 

Bringing your newborn when going out

"Our first priority is the baby, so we agreed that the baby will stay with me in the car while Ciara goes in to see her doctor," Joey shared in a post on Facebook.

Joey disinfected the car as he and Ciara wore a mask, glasses, cap, and gloves. Newborns don't need to wear a mask. Doctors advised to place a blanket over the infant's carrier, but they didn't do that since Joselito was staying in the car.

Ciara pumped breast milk in an emergency feeding bottle just in case baby Joselito got hungry while she's at the doctor. Going to the hospital, the new mom carried the baby from the house to his car seat, which was already locked in place.

She had an appointment and already pre-answered and sent back a questionnaire about her COVID-19 experience, if any, as part of the hospital safety protocols. "Watching the wife go in the hospital without me is such a scary sight, but we already discussed our own protocols. Do not touch anything!" Joey shared.

The postpartum checkup took about 30 minutes

With new birth protocols, doctor visits are also forever changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it's inevitable for some, especially moms who have given birth via C-section (CS), who need to physically go to the hospital or clinic for their postpartum checkup.

When Ciara arrived at the hospital, there were no other people except guards and nurses. Even in her doctor's clinic, it was only her, her ob-gyn, and her doctor's secretary who were present. Checkups were by appointment to control the number of people in the clinic and to practice physical distancing.

"My OB checked how my stitches looked, cleaned the wound, asked some questions about how my breastfeeding was going, and then prescribed new vitamins. She said to continue cleaning my wound and wearing my binder and then set another checkup in a month," Ciara told SmartParenting.com.ph via Facebook Messenger.

"The whole checkup took around 20 minutes, and I was generally happy with how straightforward and efficient it was," she shared, adding she updated her OB through a chat app to check on the CS scar. That's the new normal now, telemedicine.

Social distancing from the baby going back home

Daddy Joey took his son on a joyride near the hospital while waiting for Ciara. Baby Joselito seemed to love "the feel of the road and the vibration," the new dad shared. He was asleep the whole time!

Going back home, it was daddy's turn to carry Joselito from the car to their home. Ciara had been exposed to a hospital environment, so they needed to put some distance between her and the baby.

"Parenting during this crazy time requires one special ingredient, and that is teamwork!" Daddy Joey said about planning for wife Ciara's first postpartum checkup.

"Honestly, I imagined it much better pre-covid. Maybe a trip to our parents but definitely not like this. But we need to roll with the punches and make the most of it," he added.

"It is a challenging time, and every norm we are familiar with has been flipped. The most important thing to do is to create a system and follow the rules. Agree, don't argue, and work as a team," Joey said.