Pregnancy in the Time of COVID-19

Pregnant at 44 - 28 March 2020 journal entry
(35 weeks pregnant)

Metro Manila is on its 14th day since implementing the government’s lockdown policy to contain the spread of the novel corona virus 2019 (COVID 2019). Today, I hit my 35th week of my third pregnancy. Yesterday was the first time I got out of the house since the lockdown was imposed. My husband (Let) and I went for my prenatal check-up which included unavoidable trips to the Philippine General Hospital and Manila Medical Center, first for laboratory tests and then for a complete fetal exam. PGH is just across the private clinic of my OB hence it was my only option for doing the lab tests; Manila Medical Center is my only option to do the fetal scan, courtesy of my OB‘s classmate who was very kind to have the ultrasound room opened just to see me and examine my baby. The Women’s Health Center where they do ultrasound scans is closed as is the one in the Medical City where I usually went for scans and other tests to check on my baby’s well-being. I have had quite a number of scans since the first one that confirmed I was 7 weeks pregnant on 19 September 2019. At 44, my age is quite advanced to support a pregnancy, and with gestational diabetes complicating my condition, I undergo an ultrasound test at every visit to my OB.

At 35 weeks into my pregnancy, I’m supposed to go for weekly check-ups now. But with the current COVID lockdown, my OB’s clinic is closed. Actually, my OB (who’s maybe approaching her mid-60s) has stopped going to hospitals since the lockdown started. I’m now being seen by her OB daughter instead, who makes special arrangements to see me at her mom’s private clinic in Taft, Manila. Thankfully! Yesterday, upon her mom’s advice, we agreed that she will deliver my baby through a cesarean procedure. She also helped me choose a good birth date based on feng shui. Of course, still, prayer is our best bet that all’s going to be well with my delivery amidst the COVID situation faced by all major hospitals in Manila.

Yesterday, driving to PGH was a breeze. There were still some cars on EDSA, but we reached PGH in a record time of 30 minutes. It would have taken 1 to 2 hours to reach it on an ordinary day from our residence. Reaching Taft, I saw a few homeless with their mats spread out and toted meager belongings, seeking whatever little shelter is offered by the skyway. I also saw a few informal workers allowed to peddle taho, buko juice, and other snacks in the streets. No one impeded our travel. There was no checkpoint at any city boundaries that we passed.

The PGH outpatient laboratory (QualiMed) was just by the entrance, detached from the main hospital. It had a triage area where staff check the temperature and ask the travel history of people going in. Less than a handful of patients were inside when I arrived. The chair I sat in to have a blood extraction was disinfected immediately once I was done. Alcohol pumps were available at all counters. The frontage of a pharmacy across the PGH where I bought water and medicine was covered with plastic, and its staff use a basket attached to a long stick to hand out purchased items to customers and collect payments.

The biometry fetal scan I had in Manila Medical Center took about half an hour. The examination bed was enclosed in plastic and the doctor had on a mask, plastic over her hospital gown and gloves. I came out of the hospital (mindful not to touch surfaces) relieved to know that my baby, although quite small for his gestational age, gave the doctor very good stats, and that there were no problems found in terms of his development.

I will need to take 12 capsules of Amino Acid 1000 daily, which will help my baby gain more weight in the 3 weeks left before my scheduled delivery. I was also given dexamethasone, a corticosteroid injected intramuscularly, to hasten the baby’s lung maturity. All these measures are done to lessen the chances of complications from a possible pre-term delivery which could lead to a longer stay in the hospital. My doctors would like for me to be discharged from the hospital in the shortest time possible so we lessen my and my baby’s chances of exposure to COVID. 

I have been feeling anxious and losing sleep thinking of delivering my baby in a hospital which has a number of admitted COVID patients. I only have Let to care for me this time, unlike with my two previous deliveries where we had both our families by our side. Let cannot afford to be sick. A caesarian delivery is something new for me. I can only pray it’s indeed our best option. We have little control over our circumstances. We can only try and do our best to avoid being infected with COVID, stay positive, and pray we get to go home quickly after the delivery.

Others have it far worse during this pandemic. While all are deprived of freedom to move, a great many are deprived of income and are living with greater uncertainty and fear. We are in this situation as one people, yet my family’s sufferings are nothing compared with those who lost their jobs, those who are sick, and those who lost loved ones to COVID. My anxieties are small inconveniences in the context of the gravity of this heath and economic crisis. Let’s continue to pray and help each other. This, too, shall pass but not without unity and resolve to do our share to contain the spread of the virus.