New life begins amid viral epidemic

"We discussed it and wanted to name the child 'Yisheng', to remind us of the child’s unusual birth during the epidemic outbreak," said new mother Guo, holding her newborn baby in the isolation ward of Tianjin Hongqiao Hospital.

“She had a special situation and we did our best to open an express channel for her and strictly implement the requirements of epidemic prevention and control,” said Wang Xin, senior chief physician of Hongqiao Hospital.

Guo lives in Jinnan district, where many people tested positive, and was in isolation at home. According to regulations, she should have been transferred and isolated for delivery. She didn’t want to do this, as she had been undergoing maternity examinations at the hospital.

"The previous obstetric examination showed that there was too much maternal amniotic fluid and the fetus had mild hydrocephalus. We had to consider the risk of delivery and the health of the fetus," Wang said.

After communicating with the city's district epidemic prevention and control headquarters, it was decided that Guo would give birth at Hongqiao Hospital.

The hospital staff checked her nucleic acid test certificate, health code and other relevant information.

Gao Yudong, director of the obstetrics and gynecology department of the hospital, counseled Guo day and night for several days, instructing her on how to count fetal movements, monitor her health condition, and prepare the things she would need during hospitalization after surgery.

At 5 pm on the day of her delivery, the operation was successfully completed and both mother and child were in good health. The next morning, Guo was able to get out of bed and walk a bit. She expressed her gratitude to all the medical staff at Hongqiao Hospital.

"We have more than a dozen expectant mothers in our inpatient department. On the basis of taking various prevention and control measures, the doctors and nurses in the obstetrics and gynecology department have been actively promoting a postpartum rapid rehabilitation project to ensure medical safety, " Wang said.