A young mother has opened up about her recent ordeal as she revealed she was “pressured” into having a C-section because of coronavirus restrictions.
25-year-old Ally Watson from the UK gave birth to baby Alaia-Jayne last month. While the young mom wanted to give birth naturally, she was forced into having a C-section due to hospital regulations.
As Watson explained, her hospital banned partners from being present during natural births even though government guidance said partners should not be barred from scans and births.
While she wanted to give birth naturally, the 25-year-old had to agree to have a cesarean because she was afraid to give birth without her partner by her side.
According to the young woman, she felt “backed into a corner” and pressured into making a decision she didn’t like.
During the C-section, Watson suffered complications and lost two liters of blood. She will now likely never be able to give birth naturally.
As the 25-year-old admitted, the horrific experience left her not wanting to have any more children. “I now don’t want any more children,” she said.
“When I said I don’t want to be alone for the induction because that’s where something could go wrong, they said, ‘There’s nothing we can do about it.’ I felt that there wasn’t a choice. My partner should be allowed to be involved in the whole birth from start to finish,” Watson expressed.
“So for the benefit of the whole family, I had to make a decision that I wasn’t entirely comfortable with.”
Following nearly a month after Watson gave birth, the NHS England has issued new guidance stating that partners have to be allowed to be present at all stages of pregnancy including appointments, scans, and labor.
“We are asking all trust boards to urgently complete any further action needed so that partners can accompany women to all appointments and throughout birth,” the new guidance issued by the healthcare service reads.
“Support people are not ‘visitors’ because they carry out a support role. This distinction is important.”
Despite the government advice and the guidance of NHS England, a number of member hospitals reportedly told pregnant women that they’re not yet ready to ease their restrictions to allow partners to be present at births.
Dismissing concerns that some hospitals may not follow the new guidance, a spokesperson for the NHS England said: “Guidance for maternity services already makes clear that women should have access to support from a partner at appointments at all stages of their maternity journey, and we have asked all Trusts to facilitate this as quickly as possible, with every Trust confirming they are doing so.”
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Replaced!