Expectant moms in US, fearing coronavirus infection, are embracing home births

With a virulent coronavirus outbreak, hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients, pushing pregnant women to look for alternative means for a safe birth of their children.

The pandemic notched around 4,00,000 infections in the United States alone -- more than 12,000 of them fatal. Expectant mothers, hence, do not want to a hospital where there are potentially a lot of sick people and staff that have been exposed to the coronavirus.

Fear of infection, staff and drug shortages, and increasingly strict rules on visitors are leading more and more women to consider shunning hospitals -- and opting for home births.

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What becomes imperative in this situation is that the soon-to-be moms must weigh fears for their newborns and worries over their own health with the prohibitive cost of having a baby at home.

Home births are considered "out of network" under many plans in the byzantine US health insurance ecosphere, and couples are rarely lucky enough to be fully covered.

In New York, hospitals had barred husbands or partners from delivery rooms until Governor Andrew Cuomo stepped in last month and signed a decree stating no women had to give birth alone.

With health services bracing for worse to come in a crisis of historic proportions, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says hospitals remain safe places to give birth.

A US resident, Gina Conley, who is seven months pregnant, said she would pay more than $4,000 to cover the services associated with a home birth, the largest of which is typically the midwife.

"It's definitely not cheap but having the birth experience that we want, with a lot less anxiety -- we felt like it was worth it," the fitness coach told AFP.

Another pregnant lady, Ashley Esposito, a 35-year-old data specialist from the East Coast port city of Baltimore, expects to fork out up to $8,000 up front.

"Paying all that chunk of money, especially given the financial situation, you know -- there are people from my husband's job who were laid off," Esposito told AFP.

Like many soon-to-be moms, she worries about new anti-infection rules adopted by some hospitals that limit the number of people who can be in the delivery room.

Jordan Perez, 30, will soon reach full term in Homer, Alaska, where she decided to have her baby at home.

"I've always wanted to have a home birth but before the virus happened, my midwife team didn't offer home birth," said Perez, who sells cosmetic products.

Nevertheless, midwives are struggling to cope with the sudden boom in demand for their expertise in home births.

Of roughly 12,000 certified nurse midwives and midwives in America, an estimated 3,000 practice outside hospitals.

(with inputs from AFP)