Coronavirus and pregnancy: how mums-to-be are coping with the crisis

"It's escalated quite quickly. That briefing felt quite overwhelming and the next day I was sent away to work from home. The week before everything was going ahead as normal and it all changed so fast."

Guidance issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists states that pregnant women are not generally more susceptible than the the rest off the population or that their symptoms are more severe if they do contract coronavirus. But as Covid-19 has so many unknowns they recommend pregnant women practice social distancing for 12 weeks to reduce the risk of infection and transmission.

Planning to give birth at her local Midwife Led Unit, a birthing centre under the care of midwives, has left some uncertainty for Ms Coll who is unsure if her plans will still go ahead.

Home births have been cancelled in many NHS trusts across the UK and only one birthing partner is now allowed in the birthing room to avoid unnecessary contact – understandable but disappointing for many.

Ms Coll said: "I want my mum and my partner there but I know that might not be an option now. I don't know if I can still have my plan of having a water birth. I just don't know."

Using hypnobirthing – relaxation and breathing techniques – has helped Ms Coll allay her anxiety when it flares but she is concerned about what is yet to come and will use an online yoga course to help her stay calm and connected to others during the final weeks of her pregnancy.

As NHS antenatal services and private face-to-face support including hypnobirthing, yoga and birth preparation classes are cancelled, many pregnant women are feeling more anxious in the current climate, but birth workers are taking their services online to ensure that no-one feels isolated during this critical period.

In the last six days Gemma Nealon of Positive Birth Scotland, a midwife, hypnobirthing teacher and birth trauma specialist based in Edinburgh, has been inundated by women concerned about the dwindling level of resources and lack of clear information who are feeling fear in the run-up to their births.

She has moved her birth preparation workshops, hypnobirthing group and one-to-one services online and launched a free Facebook group support group for expectant and new parents with other perinatal specialists including psychotherapists, breast feeding consultants, yoga teachers and baby first aiders.

She said: "Antenatal education has been slashed so we can fill in the gaps and make the group a safe space for expectant parents to ask questions, and bring specialists in to address specific concerns."

Ms Nealon said: "I'm doing this because I'm quite concerned about pregnant women. I'm getting a lot of emails from people really freaking out first and foremost about coronavirus and the fact women have been put into the vulnerable group. Lots of people are worried about going into hospitals and not getting the birth they had planned.

"My huge concern is that I know the effect fear has and it's really concerning that these babies could be born to women who are really scared. Pregnancy is already a very stressful time."

These fears are not unfounded as some research suggests that stress and anxiety during pregnancy can cause lower birth weights, negative birth experiences and post natal depression.

But it's not all bleak, as birth preparation courses and hypnobirthing are about "removing fear" and teaching techniques including meditation that encourage the production of oxytocin, the love hormone that increases relaxation, and feel-good endorphins during labour.

Taking these classes online will allow women to take control over their births, certainly in attitude, hopes Ms Nealon.

"Women need to try and not be consumed by the negative stories. Once they have the information they need they need to understand that the impact of fear could be more detrimental [than Covid-19]. They need to find the resources to concentrate on doing whatever they can to stay as calm as they can and getting in the right mindset.

"That's why we've created the group - for emotional support. Women can still take some control. It's all about the mindset. I know these techniques work."

Replicating the community of women who attend her yoga-based birth preparation classes and hypnobirthing courses online is vital for yoga and hypnobirthing teacher Alice Blazy-Winning from Glasgow.

She said: "Maintaining the group connection is really important and creating a space where women can get together and share information and navigate whatever they're dealing with on a personal level.

"Pregnancy is such a mixture of emotions and can be an anxious time anyway because of all the changes."

She will provide pre-recorded materials and downloads for her students as well as host a group on Facebook and provide live interactive group classes in yoga, birth support and hypnobirthing.

"It's a chance for everyone to feel heard, be supported and be signposted to whatever is needed in that moment. It's so important to have that continual support of a wider community."

Women are feeling more vulnerable during the outbreak because of what is not known about the virus and how it could affect pregnancies and babies in the long term, she says.

"Because there's so much we don't know it has really panicked some women into thinking they may be at high risk of complications which so far we don't think is the case but there's just too small a number to know."

But learning techniques such as yoga and breathing practices to manage fear and induce calm has proven benefits.

"There's a wonderful autonomy to a certain extent once you've learned these tools to self-regulate your central nervous system. At the moment with the way things are escalating pregnant women's sense of fight or flight is triggered which is not good for them or the baby. The tools of yoga and hypnobirthing are more important than ever as maternity services are under stress."

Women are capable of giving birth naturally without medical intervention, she says, and must trust in their own abilities.

"Feeling safe and loved and connected is so important in pregnancy and during birth. That's really the primary recipe that pregnant women need to support them."

Laura Livingstone, of the Daisy Foundation, that offers peri and postnatal education to parents across Scotland who are now offering online support, said: "What's really important is that we bring a sense of calm to everything we do. The science suggests that women who receive antenatal education and know what's happening to them have better outcomes in terms of mental and physical health and they have greater levels of satisfaction with their births. They are better able to make informed choices which makes them feel more confident.

"Even now, women don't have to miss out and they don't have to muddle through. Yes, it's going to be different but perinatal educators are responding to their needs and we are doing everything we can to keep things as normal as they possibly can be in the circumstances."