Denying pregnant women access to their support network during maternity care may have a lasting negative impact, warn Benjamin Black, Jane Laking, and Gillian McKay

Community engagement has long been a central pillar of outbreak response and covid-19 is no different. This is vital across all healthcare, including maternity, not only the vertical covid-19 response. Maternity services must ensure that women and their loved ones feel welcomed even in the midst of a pandemic.

We know that delays in seeking, reaching, and receiving care for complications of pregnancy increase the risk of poor maternity outcomes. Previous epidemics have documented this happening amid the disruption to society, the economy, and healthcare, resulting in direct recommendations to reduce delays at every step of the pregnancy journey….

Benjamin Black, Jane Laking, Gillian McKay. (2020). Birth partners are not a luxury. The BMJ Opinion.