She was still breastfeeding Marley who was 18 months, but children weren't allowed into the hospital. She ended up in hospital for three days with pelvic problems when she was 25 weeks pregnant during level 2.5. Katy's mental health was a lot better during the latest lockdown. Katy's depression heightened as she started to worry about having to give birth alone depending on the alert levels. "It was hard to accept at first as I was finally starting to return to myself after my horrible first pregnancy." Three weeks later, my husband went out for the very first time on my request to get a pregnancy test from the pharmacy - and sure enough, those two little lines showed us our lockdown baby boy was well and truly on his way. "I remember telling myself, I will just take the one pill and trust the universe. The friend advised Katy to take two pills as she had put on weight since her first pregnancy but Katy had had bad reactions to synthetic hormones in the past and she was scared of having to need medical treatment and risk getting Covid. So she asked a pharmacist friend to put the pill in her letterbox - she wasn't able to do so until the end of the following day. All of those initial practices we were all advised to do due to the fear of the unknown." "At that point in time we weren't leaving the house at all, having our groceries delivered and hubby was washing them in the driveway. The next day she urgently needed the morning after pill but she suffers from severe asthma and was too scared to go to the pharmacy. One night they drank Champagne and played 10-pin bowling with footballs and baby bottles. One had to part ways with a nanny who was unvaccinated. They juggled long days with older children and a newborn at home - one was homeschooling her 6-year-old, entertaining her active toddler and looking after her newborn. Most spoke of general mental health issues. One mother spoke of her postnatal depression, heightened by lockdown. Her hours were later cut in half.Īll spoke of feeling isolated after missing out on crucial mother and baby coffee groups, sensory classes and swimming lessons. One mother worked in an isolation hotel and welcomed the first lot of quarantining guests before finding out she was pregnant and taking herself off the front desk. Partners couldn't go to scans, work hours were reduced, money was tight, antenatal classes were off, an overseas wedding was cancelled. Shubhneet Nanda adds: "I was a contracting optometrist at the time and working all over New Zealand and my ovulation dates were not matching our time together and the lockdown meant I had to come back to Auckland sooner than I had planned."īut pregnancies suffered in level 3 and 4 - one mother had already had three miscarriages and was unable to access the recurrent miscarriage clinic when pregnant with her lockdown baby. They became a competition to see who could make the best date for the other once our daughter was asleep and many or them included a little too much Caribbean rum and Champagne." Some mothers said lockdown helped them conceive, like Katy Perez: "My husband and I took turns at creating our own at-home weekly date nights during level 4. The Weekend Herald has tracked seven of their families over the past year to see how the pandemic has affected them.
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