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Coronavirus disrupts pregnancy plans, raises anxiety and questions

This Feb 1, 2020 photo provided Maureen Nicol shows her in Harlem, N.Y. Nicol, a single Columbia University PhD student pregnant with her first child, will be giving birth out of state, not as planned. She spent months planning to give birth in April at a Manhattan hospital with the assistance of a doula. But during a visit this month to her family's Maryland home, New York became the nation's coronavirus epicenter and she canceled plans to return. (Courtesy of Maureen Nicol via AP)
This Feb 1, 2020 photo provided Maureen Nicol shows her in Harlem, N.Y. Nicol, a single Columbia University PhD student pregnant with her first child, will be giving birth out of state, not as planned. She spent months planning to give birth in April at a Manhattan hospital with the assistance of a doula. But during a visit this month to her family's Maryland home, New York became the nation's coronavirus epicenter and she canceled plans to return. (Courtesy of Maureen Nicol via AP)

By LINDSEY TANNER / AP Medical Writer 5 min read

Some pregnant women fear giving birth with no loved ones by their side. Others worry about getting sick with COVID-19 and not being able to hold their newborns. The coronavirus pandemic has injected anxiety and uncertainty to an already stressful time and while science about risks is mostly reassuring, doctors want clearer answers too.

“There is very limited information available,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a George Washington University public health specialist. She wants answers as a physician and as a patient – Wen is pregnant and due to give birth to her second child any day.

Her greatest fear is developing a COVID-19 infection or symptoms that would force her to be separated from her newborn for days or weeks.

“I would only be able to see my baby through a glass window,” said Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner. “That’s the one that gives me nightmares.”

To help provide answers, the University of California, San Francisco last week started the first U.S. registry of COVID-19 infected or exposed pregnant women. At least 60 women have enrolled so far.