Parents who have not seen their children, months after their birth
The muzzle separates mothers from their newborns in Argentina
Many mothers preferred to postpone the immunization of their children for fear of exposing them to the risks in the specialized health centers. A.F.B.
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Despite her being healthy and not infected with the emerging "Corona" virus, Adriana Piramendi, her quadruple twins, did not get pregnant once without wearing the muzzle, since they saw the light two months ago. But these premature babies will soon be able to leave the hospital, which witnessed their birth in Buenos Aires, at a time when the death toll from the "Covid-19" pandemic in Argentina has exceeded 2,000 deaths.
If Piramendi is satisfied with the growth of her newborns, she deeply regrets that their father does not yet know them, as he is stuck in his hometown in Bolivia due to the border closure.
In exchange for her understanding of the measures taken due to the pandemic, which prevent her husband from being allowed to join her, this 24-year-old woman says: “They should understand me too. I ask that he give him permission to come to my aid. I haven't seen him in five months. Our children are now in their second month, and he did not meet or touch them. ”
Ramon Sarda Hospital, where the four children were born, had to adapt within just days to the new health reality caused by the "Covid-19" pandemic, as it adopted new protocols to train its medical team, and reconsidered various aspects of its work, including the distribution of departments. And ways to protect it.
“We have never been treated this way,” says the hospital’s medical director. We all have masks, goggles, gloves, head coverings, feet and body ».
Among the women who were hospitalized during the pandemic crisis, six women were infected with the Coronavirus, two of whom were possibly infected, and they were given the choice between being isolated with their children, or being isolated from them.
The doctor explains: “The first patient infected with (Corona) virus we received did not want to stay with her child, because she was afraid of transmitting the infection to him. Many patients suffered from anxiety as a result of this situation.
This fear left an impact on mothers ’decision to breastfeed, as well as on vaccinations, as many mothers preferred to postpone the immunization of their children for fear of exposing them to risks in the specialized health centers. This prompted Garahan Hospital, one of the most important children's hospitals in Argentina, to issue an appeal calling for the vaccination schedule for children to be respected.
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Manuela was born on April 29, in the midst of a quarantine period, in a private clinic in Buenos Aires. Her mother, Anna Clara, says: “She is the daughter, granddaughter and first niece of the family, but alone, her father and I know her. I feel that it is difficult not to share with your relatives the wonderful moment of birth. ”
For this 35-year-old woman, the quarantine began on the ninth of last March, 11 days before the Argentine government’s decision in this regard.
"There were people returning from Europe in the place I worked, and the doctor’s recommendation was to stay home," she explains.
And it was the end of the most difficult pregnancy. Anna Clara had to go alone for the last two checks. “It worried me,” she says, “but I got it. I was very afraid that my husband would not be able to accompany me at the moment of delivery. I was very nervous before Manuela was born. ” After this anxious wait, Manuela finally went out into the world by Caesarean section, and her father was next to her mother, and they both wore the muzzle. Then the three were kept isolated in a room, without even being allowed outside for a walk in the hospital garden.
Luciano Lotero, a child psychoanalyst who specializes in children, says: “In the context of the pandemic, children got in their first year the affection of their parents, who at the same time feared that they would cause them harm, and this led to an anxious relationship.”
He adds: "The first year of a child's life is generally associated with fear that something will happen to him, but in a (pandemic) situation, parents' fear increases that one of them will cause any harm to their child."
And he stresses that the stone also deprives parents of "a very important support network, which is to visit family members and friends."
The stone deprived parents of "an important support network, which is to visit family and friends."