Strain on hospitals adds to stress of high-risk pregnancy

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

The news is filled with the big picture regarding the coronavirus pandemic: hundreds of thousands sick worldwide, entire countries on lockdown, record unemployment as businesses are forced to close.

But there is a much more personal side to the pandemic and the possibility that it will overtax the medical system if it isn’t brought into check. That’s hitting home for a family in Elizabeth Township. 

Kayleigh and John Matus are expecting twins. It’s Kayleigh’s second pregnancy and it’s high risk. Their twin daughters share the same amniotic sac.

“There’s nothing that separates the twins at all,” Kayleigh said. “They can move freely around each other, which means the cords can get entangled.”

Because of the dangers that presents, Kayleigh will be admitted to the hospital at the 24-week point of her pregnancy and will spend eight weeks in the hospital before the babies are born. 

She is currently at the 20-week mark and has discussed how the coronavirus may impact her pregnancy.

“Currently the big concern isn’t if I would contract the virus,” she said. “I had an appointment and he said ‘You never know how many beds they’ll need for coronavirus.’”

Kayleigh said that if the demand for more bed space for coronavirus patients skyrockets, it could impact the perinatal beds available.

“That’s the unit I’d be in,” Kayleigh said. “It’s already a scary situation. During the admission, they can take the babies at any moment if they are in distress.”

Kayleigh said that if there is room for her at the hospital, under the current guidelines only one person over the age of 18 may visit her, meaning she will miss her son’s third birthday in mid-May.

“He won’t be able to see me that entire time,” Kayleigh said.

Kayleigh said there is a possibility of additional restrictions being put into place at the hospital.

“Currently in New York and California, they aren’t even allowing a support person in the delivery room,” Kayleigh said.

Since the babies will be born prematurely by design, they will spend extended time in the neonatal intensive care unit. Their big brother won’t be able to see them until they come home.

“If it weren’t for the coronavirus, this wouldn’t even be an issue. We’d all be together as a family,” Kayleigh said.

Kayleigh is doing her best to arrange ways to stay connected to her son while she is hospitalized, planning to video chat and otherwise connecting electronically, but the separation will be difficult.

“We are completely staying at home. I’m working from home. My husband’s laid off. We haven’t been going anywhere,” Kayleigh said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize how vastly this affects people and families. I know someone who just lost her grandmother and they can’t give her a proper burial.” 

Kayleigh has been urging others to stay home on her Facebook page and on community pages, hoping her personal story will encourage others to comply with self quarantining. Kayleigh is a former emergency room nurse currently working from home in an administrative capacity.

“I started to realize this was going to be a really big situation for us, our family and our country about two weeks ago,” she said.

Kayleigh said that in some ways the coronavirus has brought the world together.

“There is a strange sense of unity. We all have a part to play,” she said. “We really are very blessed. We will get through this, it’s just not going to be easy. No matter what happens, this is temporary, but I’m strong enough to get through it.”