Woman gives birth in bathtub at home after fears husband would not be allowed into hospital

To be expecting a child in the age of coronavirus means that what should be the best of times is being tainted by the worst of times.

Certainly, the thought of interacting with America’s overwhelmed hospitals is increasingly a terrifying one for many moms to be.

Fortunately, there was a happy ending for one young woman from New Jersey whose visit to a hospital to have her child prompted a swift return back home. There, she gave birth in her bathtub.

Heavily pregnant Erin Persia of Blackwood experienced several contractions last Friday and feared she was going into labor with her fourth child. She and her husband decided to get to the Virtua Voorhees Hospital as soon as possible for the birth.

However, when she got there, Persia was told her husband could not come inside, she told ABC 6 News.

“They were like, ‘Okay, your husband has to go wait in the car,’ and I was like, ‘Whoa, what?’” she told the news station. “And they were like, ‘yeah, he can’t come back with you because of everything that’s going on.’”

At first, Persia went inside the hospital, but she said she got a sudden panic attack because she feared being left on her own during the birth of the child. When she didn’t experience any more contractions, she said she decided instead to go back home.

The contractions, she said, returned shortly after she returned home. At this point, she was worried that she would not make it back to the hospital in time. So, she got into her bathtub, and with the help of her husband, gave birth to her daughter, Amelia Gracelyn Persia.

Hospitals around the country have instituted tough restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak, but Persia would have been allowed to have her husband with her during the birth, according to information on the hospital’s website.

Virtua Health does not allow anyone else to be in the hospital while the pregnant woman is being “assessed,” however, they do allow pregnant women to have someone with them during the delivery.

“We know that many moms like to have more than one loved one be a part of this special moment, such as a mom or sister,” Dr. Nicole Lamborne, director of women’s health services for Virtua Health, said in a press release. “Emotionally, we appreciate it. But professionally, we must do what’s necessary to keep people safe.”