As coronavirus fears mount, New York-Presbyterian has announced it will no longer allow the “birthing partners and support persons” of patients giving birth to be present.
“With our focus on the best interests of our new mothers and children, we have made the decision not to permit visitors, including birthing partners and support persons, for our obstetric patients,” the hospital said in a tweet Saturday. “We understand that this will be difficult for our patients and their loved ones, but we believe that this is a necessary step to promote patient safety.”
#COVID19 Update: March 22, 2020
The new changes to our visitor policy will go into effect on Monday, March 23, 2020 at 7am. To learn more, please visit: https://t.co/WWAk38Ch15 pic.twitter.com/6cmObRKCaD
— NewYork-Presbyterian (@nyphospital) March 22, 2020
The new regulation went into effect across the seven-campus New York-Presbyterian system Monday morning. With a combined 2,600 beds and over 20,000 employees, the hospital sees more than 2 million visits a year, according to Vice. In 2017, New York-Presbyterian campuses saw the delivery of at least 17,015 children, an average of 327 children per week, according to New York state Department of Health data.
The move to ban birthing partners follows an advisory from the state Department of Health last week, encouraging all New York hospitals to suspend visitation “except when medically necessary (i.e., visitor is essential to the care of the patient) or for family members or legal representatives of patients in imminent end-of-life situations.”
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