M.A.M.A.S., Inc. Practice Plan During COVID-19 Pandemic

Updated 1/19/2022

It is the aim of all of us here at M.A.M.A.S., Inc. to provide you with safe, personalized, client-centered care, and to continue creating community in this strange and confusing time.

THINGS M.A.M.A.S. MIDWIVES CONTINUE TO DO:

With the pandemic, some things have had to change, but not everything.  We can continue to:

• Offer our respect for the birthing person at the center of care
• Find ways to create community in new paradigms
• Hold the space for physiologic birth and breastfeeding
• Offer our calm and loving presence along with our desire to help
• Offer our patience and fortitude.
• Be available by phone 24/7 to discuss any questions or concerns you may have. If you find yourself thinking, “should I call the midwife?” The answer is always YES.

THINGS THAT YOU CAN CONTINUE DOING:

• Get good sleep
• Drink plenty of water
• Eat a well-balanced diet with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and minimize processed foods.
• Reduce stress by creating and maintaining self-care practices, including moving many times a day, and practicing meditation or relaxation exercises.
• Consider following the recommendations of Aviva Romm to help maintain your immune system: (Zinc 30mg/day, Vitamin D 4000 IU/day, Vitamin C 1000mg/day, echinacea tincture 2.5 mL (1 dropperful) 3x/day. Be sure your prenatal vitamin has 400mcg folic acid as it’s shown to be protective in case of maternal fever.

We will continue to be in contact at our usual intervals, but while some visits will be individual in-person visits in our office or your home, others will be group or individual virtual visits.

Infection Control 

Midwife office visits (individual visit):

Our office, a private suite with separate entrance and bathroom, is regularly cleaned and disinfected according to CDC recommendations.

We ask that you text us from your car to let us know you have arrived.  We will text you back when we have finished preparing the space for you.  Your partner is welcome to come in with you, with masks required.

Home visit:

Before our scheduled appointment time, please go through your space and disinfect all high touch areas.  Please provide a fresh washcloth or paper towel for drying hands, and some wipes or a washcloth and Clorox solution to wipe our equipment before we leave.  We will leave shoes and outerwear at the door, wash hands on arrival and again before we leave.

Birth:

When labor begins, please have your support person disinfect the house as instructed for home visits. Based on current recommendations at the time of your birth, we will use personal protective gear while in your home, per CDC guidelines. During the pandemic, to the extent possible, while the birthing person and partner are free to roam the house, the midwives will try to stay just in the designated birth area, the bathroom, and the kitchen, unless everyone in the house has been fully-vaccinated.

Birth tub:

Many M.A.M.A.S. clients choose to deliver in water.  If you elect to have a birth tub, sanitation guidelines will be provided.

Testing:

In the interest of providing the safest possible care, we require covid antibody testing in each trimester unless you are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.  Even if you are fully-vaccinated, we advise extra caution in the last few weeks of pregnancy, with a swab test at 38 weeks and then quarantining as much as possible for the remainder of your pregnancy.  We encourage all our clients and the other people in their homes to follow the current CDC and White House Guidelines about social distancing.

• Avoid going out unnecessarily and avoid inviting others into your home.
• Avoid groups of more than 10 people and stay 6 feet from anyone.
• If you must go out, wear a mask, and wash hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and hot water, when you get home. Also, wear a mask that fits properly over nose and mouth!