A local nurse on giving birth during the coronavirus pandemic
"I felt like I was isolated and I felt pretty alone."
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This story was told by Diana De Paz, a nurse from Beverly who gave birth in April, and has been transcribed and edited from a conversation with Kristi Palma.
My name is Diana De Paz. I am a nurse and I work in the operating room [at a local hospital], but right now I’m on maternity leave because I recently had my baby. Prior to delivery, my husband tested positive for COVID-19. I had all the symptoms and I got tested, it was negative. And then I had shortness of breath, I had muscle weakness, and then I got tested again and it was negative. Then I was scheduled for an induction. On April 24, I went to the hospital and they told me that I couldn’t have my husband at the bedside with me because he had tested positive for COVID-19, even though he had completed 20 days of quarantine. I had my sister with me as my support person.
When I checked in, everyone was paranoid of anyone who may be in question to have COVID-19. I felt like I was a threat to the staff when I got there. When the nurse checked me in, she walked me to my room, she explained that I need to wear a mask all the time. My sister wasn’t allowed to leave the room, she needed to stay in there the whole time she was there with me. We were not allowed to order food from outside and nobody was allowed to see us or bring us food. And we could not leave the room. And we understood that.
During the time I was there, there was only three nurses I remember that stuck with me throughout the whole time — I was there from Friday to Sunday — and the rest of them made me feel like someone with leprosy. I felt like I was isolated and I felt pretty alone. Because my husband tested positive and because I had the symptoms as well, they put me in isolation precaution. They also put me in PUI, which is patient under investigation. I got tested when I got there, it was negative as well. I did not have any symptoms when I got there. I had completed my quarantine period time as well, too.
When I was induced to have my baby, I requested to have an epidural procedure before the birth of the baby. When the anesthesiologist got there, the nurse told my sister to go stand behind a curtain. My sister is my support person. She shouldn’t be standing behind a curtain while I’m having a procedure done because she’s there to support me. I didn’t say anything. I thought maybe [the nurse] was going to offer me her hand or maybe hold me against her because she was wearing the proper PPE. She literally gave me a table to hold if I was in pain.
That same nurse, throughout the whole time I was there, she would come in, do an evaluation on me, she would check me, but she would not talk to me. She would never tell me what she was doing. She would literally just do it and just walk out of the room. I felt really uncomfortable the whole time.
On Saturday, my sister had to ask, ‘Hey, can we get some food?’ The whole time we were there, we only got three meals. In the end, one of the nurses offered to go down to get us food. It was just chaos. At the same time, you’re just like, you’ve got to have a plan, you know? Or you have to allow a family member to go and get food because we have to eat, too.
On Saturday, it comes time to deliver my baby. The look in their faces, they are paranoid, they are fearful. The pediatrician came to talk to me 20 minutes before I pushed my baby out. He was like, ‘Because we’re questioning whether you have COVID-19 or not, we’re not sure if we’ll leave the baby in the room. We may have to take the baby to NICU. We’ll care for the baby there. You will not be able to hold the baby.’ And I said, ‘Is this the hospital guidelines? …I’ve completed my quarantine period, public health said that I am OK, they gave me the good to go, so why are you guys still keeping me under PUI and treating me like a COVID-19 patient?’ He said, ‘Well, because the disease is still new, we don’t know much about it, we’re just doing as we are experiencing it, there’s not really any clear guidelines on this.’
That’s my baby. I’m a nurse and if I knew that I was putting my baby at risk, I would not ask to hold the baby, I would not ask for the baby to be in the room with me. But because I had completed my quarantine and public health has given me the good to go and I feel fine, I said, ‘The baby will not leave the room.’ The reason…is because of the way I was treated there. I could imagine how they would presume that the baby has COVID-19 as well, that she would be isolated and not get the proper care that she deserved like I was isolated and not given the proper care. Later on, he [the pediatrician] said, ‘We can leave the baby six feet away and your sister will have to care for the baby. You cannot hold the baby.’ I’m like, ‘That’s fine. As long as the baby is in the room and I can see her. My sister’s here and can care for her. I’m OK with that.’
The doctor came in and she apologized. The doctor was really nice. She was like, ‘I’m sorry about all the craziness. There’s just so many uncertainties. We still need to work on the policy and all that.’ I’m like, ‘I understand. It’s not you. It’s all a mess.’
I was kind of questioning my occupation. I love my job. I love my patients. I treat people the way I would want them to treat me. I was so disappointed. Yes, you are risking yourself. But at the same time, if you’re going to risk yourself, then let’s do it right. I had three nurses that stood out to me throughout the whole time I was there. One actually advocated for me. She said, ‘You need to speak up and tell them you want to hold your baby.’ There are very good nurses out there. You need to have a heart to have that job. You need to care about people.
My daughter was born healthy, no COVID-19, no other issues at all. She’s just a happy, healthy baby.
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