Having a baby is always nerve-wracking – and women now have unexpected fears to contend with. New moms share their stories of amazing midwives, the joy and pain of childbirth during the pandemic

Helen Simmons, a 28-year-old film producer from London, went into labor with her second child on the evening of March 30 — exactly a week after Boris Johnson announced a nationwide lockdown. “It felt like a ’60s-style birth,” she jokes.

She arrived at the Royal Free Hospital with her husband, Charles, at 5:30 the next morning. “We were hoping for the best,” Simmons says. Instead, Charles was sent home due to new visitor restrictions imposed by the outbreak, and Simmons was sent to the work ward on her own. She was hungry – she didn’t bring enough food with her – so Charles dropped some and stayed with her for a few hours before being asked to leave again.

For the next ten hours, Simmons was working alone and Charles was lowered into an antechamber outside, like a pair of madmen era. it was hard. “The hardest part of the job is not getting paid,” Simmons says. “It’s the contractions. And doing it on your own…not realizing that you need your partner so much, emotionally and physically, that this person isn’t there with you.”

After 30 hours of labor, most of the time spent on their own, their daughter Isla was born on April 1 at 4.40 am. Charles was allowed inside to watch Isla’s birth before she was delivered. It certainly wasn’t the birth they had hoped for or planned for. However, Simmons feels that the experience means she’s discovered an inner strength she didn’t know she had. “He has given me a newfound respect for women throughout history,” she says.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, pregnant women across the country will be wondering how it will affect them. “It’s an anxious time for pregnant women,” says Maria Bowker of the Birthrights charity. “They worry about whether their partner can stay with them or what the birth will be like.”

Currently, according to official guidance, no British woman should give birth alone. “Visiting is restricted to help stop the spread of coronavirus”, says NHS England, “but our guidance is very clear that a specific exception should be made for birth partners when a woman is in labor.” The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) guidelines state that partners may not be able to accompany women during induction and the early stages of labor due to physical distancing guidelines. But, she adds, “By the time you go into active labor, you’ll be taken to your own room and your birth partner will be able to join you.” Provided, of course, that they do not show any signs of illness. Visitors are not allowed after birth.

But there is a degree of confusion about how the rules are applied by different trusts. Simmons has spent most of her work alone, but others have partnered with them all the time. London business owner Naomi Edmondson, 29, gave birth to a baby boy at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington on March 31. Her husband, Ali, was allowed to stay with her throughout her planned cesarean section.

However, what may be notable for mothers who are giving birth is that the hospitals seem empty. A recent survey by RCM found that 20% of midwife roles are currently unoccupied due to self-isolation, coronavirus, or a shortage of existing staff. Last week, Linsay Coventry, 54, died at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex. She was the first midwife to die of Covid-19, illustrating the risks healthcare professionals take when doing their jobs.