ROYAL OAK, Mich. – We’re celebrating our mothers and in the middle of a pandemic. For some women the path to motherhood has been nerve wrecking.
Update May 9, 2020: Michigan coronavirus (COVID-19) cases up to 46,756; Death toll now at 4,526 with 22,686 recoveries reported
“She was born a month ago,” said Katherine Lewitzke.
Katherine Lewitzke wants everyone to meet ‘Little Vera’, the newest member of her family, “Her name Vera, that was my grandmother’s middle name, and then her middle name is Natalie and that was my mom’s first name. So she’s named after two important people in my life.”
But she had to give birth, in the middle of the Coronavirus Crisis, “It was a lot of fear. Like definitely, I was afraid, you know a lot of things changed,” said Lewitzke.
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Lewitzke said those changes made her comfortable to give birth, “The doctor had to wear a mask, and then they took a lot of precautions, where they would schedule a patient one at time to come see them, verses you would wait in the waiting room, you used to seeing 10 or 20 people, in the waiting room, they now call you when you’re in your car and you’ll have to come into your appointment.”
“We have been performing testing on every patient,” said Dr. Kurt Wharton with Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
Doctor Kurt Wharton with Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak said those are just some of the extra measures, they’re taking to make sure everyone stays safe, before, during and after the birth, “As soon as she gets to the hospital, we’re going to put a mask on you, we’re going to keep it on you until you physically can’t wear it. then once the baby is born, we got to put your mask back on. We all make sure, we’re all wearing masks and the appropriate protective gear, we call it PPE, Personal Protective Equipment. We also make sure her support person to wear a mask,” said Dr. Wharton.
Now, both mother and daughter are home safe, they’re just waiting until family can celebrate too, “No one in our family has been able to hold her or see her in the flesh yet,” said Lewitzke.
Anyone who believes they might have coronavirus should follow the CDC guidelines. Michigan.gov has a list of resources available to those concerned about COVID-19.
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