So, I live in a city which has one hospital that does labor and delivery. They are consistently ranked lowest in the area of the state we’re at. There’s nothing I can do about it unless I want to drive over an hour to a different city.

I reached out to them to find out some specifics about my L&D experience. As everyone, I wanted to know about the visitor policy snd other things that will affect me while I’m there. They have a 1 visitor policy, and it must be the same person throughout. I find this personally difficult but I understand the rationale so I dealt.

I also found out that they require everyone to wear a mask while a staff member is in the room. This has been the policy since March, despite my county having less than 100 cases of Coronavirus. I get the sentiment, but I find it completely terrifying to contemplate trying to breathe through a mask while in the difficult stages of pushing. Idk why they cannot test me and rule out the coronavirus rather than make people already going through something really difficult have an added difficulty. The other hospitals in surrounding cities allow those who test negative to breathe unobstructed during labor.

Coronavirus has picked up quite a bit here in recent days. Hospitalizations look like they have tripled or quadrupled from a few weeks ago. Cases are over 400 in my county. And then yesterday I get an email from the “birth designer” letting me know Labor and Delivery tours have been resumed, and me and a guest can go for a 1 hour tour through the facility that is supposed to be keeping all the moms and babies safe. Nevermind letting my sister or mother take over for my exhausted husband after complete newborn sleep deprivation in a hospital with no nursery but it’s safe enough for TOURS?

I just needed to vent. I’m powerless and frustrated and scared. And I hate this stupid hospital.