Elephant Circle resources and efforts during COVID-19

/

Hello Elephant Circle fans!

Like many of you, we have been busy responding and adapting to the world of COVID-19. 

We wanted to share our recent efforts and resources!

International efforts:

  • Elephant Circle was invited to be part of the Global Perinatal Task Force on Birth Setting – an effort by birthworkers and advocates around the world in response to the pandemic, convened by the Birth Place Lab.  Stay tuned for more information on this effort!

National/Colorado efforts:

  • We created an early guide to integration of community birth into the pandemic response in Colorado.  Read that guide here. 

  • This guide inspired collaboration on a national document, and the FAM Statement on Pandemic Planning was born.  It was adapted for a MomsRising blog post and can be found here. All contributors are credited at the end.

  • We have consulted with New York state birthworkers and advocates about how to plan for birth in the face of the surge that is happening there (see reporting below for examples).

  • We developed a guide to help consumers thinking about community birth during this time.  This document was designed to help consumers and to help community midwives – who are currently fielding these questions daily as their inquiries increase exponentially.  Find our Consumer Guide to Community Birth during the Coronovirus here.

  • We have been instrumental in the development of this resource on defending human rights during birth.

  • We surveyed Community Birthworkers here in Colorado about their capacity to serve more families during COVID-19.  Read our summary here.

  • We collaborated with the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) to send this letter to Governor Polis about the role of community birth in a pandemic. This letter was based on our work with the Birth Rights Bar Association addressing the challenges pregnant and birthing people are facing.

  • One of our recommendations was to include Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) as clinical staff at Colorado birth centers.  Read our fact sheet about why we think this is a good idea here.

  • We know that crises like pandemics increase the rates of human rights violations.  Childbirth is no exception.  Elephant Circle is serving as a international resource to track human rights violations during childbirth during the pandemic.  Find our reporting form here.

  • We hosted informational webinars for pregnant and birthing folks here in Colorado in both Spanish and English.  Those will be out during the week of April 13.  Stay tuned!

Elephant Circle in the news talking about the coronavirus.

'They Separated Me from My Baby' Hospitals are keeping newborns from their parents over the coronavirus fears. By Irin Carmon, April 7, 2020, The Cut

This article tells the story of LaToya Jordan who gave birth in New York on March 30th and was separated from her newborn due to COVIC-19 concerns.

If a parent refuses to be separated from a baby at birth and the hospital insists, she would face an unsympathetic legal landscape, said Indra Lusero, a staff attorney at the National Advocates for Pregnant Women.

Lusero said similar conflicts have arisen when, say, a hospital tries to separate a newborn from a mother who tests positive for substance use. “In my work, I already see how hospitals make policies that don’t always take into account families’ needs, people’s psychological well-being, or even the specific needs of newborns with regards to bonding and attachment,” they said. “The way perinatal health care is organized in hospitals prioritizes the baby to the detriment of the pregnant, laboring, postpartum person.” 

COVID-19, Surrogacy, and Birthing Alone: Coronavirus or no coronavirus, the babies just keep coming.  By Ellen Trachman, April 1, 2020, Above the Law.

This article analyzes the law and legal history around hospital policies and support people at birth.

Lusero explained that with little ability to challenge the crisis-driven hospital policies, some are turning to birth centers and home-birth options. Others are steeling themselves for an isolated and separated hospital birth.

But Lusero also points out that it was public pressure and changing norms that led to fathers being commonly included in the delivery room, and public pressure led to New York’s executive order requiring hospitals to adjust their no-accompaniment policies. Advocates can continue to press for pandemic-appropriate accommodations for this “crucial psychological milestone.”

Covid-19 Restrictions on Birth Breastfeeding Disproportionately Harming Black and Native Women.  By Kimberly Seals Allers, April 3, 2020, We*News.

This article articulates the many challenges facing pregnant and birthing people and the impact on Black and Native Women.

“What we have right now are a set of bad options, including no legal basis for having someone with you at childbirth and a hospital system that has historically prioritized protecting itself (and avoiding liability) over the needs of women and birthing people,” explains Indra Lusero, a reproductive justice attorney at National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW).  

“During this time, we recommend individuals look for local childbirth educators, doulas, lactation support providers, midwives and doctors offering digital support, information and resources that can reassure, connect, inform and support people,” adds Lusero, who is also founder of the Birth Rights Bar Association.