Shanghai maternity hospitals set flexible policies during lockdown

Maternity hospitals in Shanghai have introduced measures to ensure the safety of mothers-to-be and newborns while the city is in a phased lockdown to fight COVID-19.

The measures include opening green channels for pregnant women without reports of negative nucleic acid tests, receiving those whose due dates are near, and categorizing pregnant women with different health conditions into corresponding WeChat groups to receive timely responses from doctors around the clock.

"The birth of a new life into a family signifies hope. When the city is experiencing a special period, maternal medical teams are also trying their best to help each pregnant woman be safe and sound while obeying strict epidemic prevention protocols," said Wang Yu, president of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital.

Shanghai entered into a phased lockdown on March 28 while its residents took a new round of nucleic acid tests to curb the virus' spread. Residents all over the city are currently required to stay at home and will take nucleic acid tests on Monday.

Categorized lockdown measures will continue if one resident or more in the particular building, compound or the subdistrict tests positive.

During lockdown, pregnant women showing signs of going into labor and those experiencing unusual situations are taken to hospitals after obtaining approval from the subdistrict office, which is responsible for calling for an ambulance.

The Gynecology and Obstetrics Hospital at Fudan University, where 6,000 pregnant women are registered, said it screened all the registered pregnant women and sent messages to each, detailing the adjustments in arrangements.

Among the prenatal checkups, the one regarding deformity screening conducted at mid-pregnancy is crucial and cannot be delayed. The hospital contacted each one scheduled for the checkup during the lockdown, reminding them to prepare negative nucleic acid reports within 48 hours when coming to the hospital during the lockdown.

"Also, pregnant women with different health concerns joined six WeChat groups, where they can find an obstetrician in charge immediately. There is a director, deputy director, clinician and head nurse in charge of each health problem in each group," said Gu Weirong, a leading doctor of newborn health at the hospital.

At the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital of China welfare institute, doctors had received in advance dozens of women whose due dates are during the lockdown.

"Most pregnant women give birth around the due date, and if we admit them in advance, it can help avoid unexpected situations, including the possible difficulty to get an ambulance to hospital if they start to show signs of giving birth," said Zhang Lin, an obstetrician with the hospital.

She said the medical institution has allocated as many beds as possible for such mothers-to-be. Also, none arriving at the hospital to give birth from their homes during the lockdown will ever be rejected by the hospital.

"If they and their accompanying family members cannot provide negative nucleic acid test reports, they'll be sent to quarantined labor rooms," she said.

Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, which has campuses east and west of the Huangpu River, screened all the registered pregnant women right after the city government on the night of March 27 announced that east regions would be locked down from the following day.

It found more than 3,000 pregnant women who live west of the river and registered with its east campus. They contacted those whose due dates were arriving and that they could go to the hospital's west branch if they encounter any situations.

The hospital also published a 24-hour hotline to answer pregnant women's queries. It received more than 200 phone calls on average daily.

During the lockdown of the regions east of the river from March 28 to 31, an average of over 60 infants were born at the hospital's east campus daily.