DIVISION OF WOMEN’S HEALTH
AUTHOR
DEBRA FENTON
Maternity Service Manager On behalf of Women’s Health Service, Operational and Clinical Managers
COVID-19 – Womens Health’s response in March 2020 The Women’s Health division, its managers and teams faced many challenges as they responded to the first COVID-19 level 4 lockdown in March 2020. One year on, and many of the processes adopted during that time have now become business as usual, as we continue to respond to new outbreaks and fluctuating national alert levels. Thanks to the team of 300+ across the division for their ability to adapt to uncertain times and ensure that the best care continued to be provided to the women and babies of South Auckland. In February 2020, the world was confronted by the spread of the COVID-19 virus within all communities and the impact on New Zealand was evolving. By March 2020, the Women’s Health management team had developed its own COVID-19 governance group and were preparing for the unknown impact on women who used our services in our hospital, birthing units and the community. Plans were well underway by the time the level-4 lockdown commenced on the 25 March 2020. During the lockdown, the entire midwifery workforce was connected through daily or weekly Zoom meetings to discuss the challenges that each area and individuals were facing and offer practical solutions. The following are some of the challenges, responses and newly adopted practices that the various teams within Women’s Health developed and faced.
Maternity wards In our maternity wards, the focus immediately changed from business as usual to keeping women, babies and our staff safe. Once we had identified which vulnerable staff could not attend work during the level 4 lockdown, we started planning to source additional resources and personnel to cover rosters.
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One of the main challenges was defining and applying a constantly evolving visitor’s policy and keeping staff and security up to date with a consistent message. Numerous policies and processes were developed to guide staff on how to manage during lockdown, including caring for COVID-19 possible or positive women who required maternity care, defining ‘red’ zones and ensuring staff were well versed with ‘black’ isolation precautions. We were also busy acquiring and maintaining personal protective equipment (PPE) stock, and arranging training on techniques for donning, doffing and fitting masks. Staff were anxious and at times felt the information sent from national sources was too slow. The women’s health management team worked hard to reassure staff and provide them with the correct protective equipment to be able to continue to provide care. At times women expressed how isolated and frustrated they felt when their families were not able to visit, particularly after birth. However, most women understood the need for restrictive visiting rules. Food snack boxes for mothers were arranged by the maternity quality and safety coordinator and these were well received. The wards needed to increase the amount of baby clothes available for women who were not able to access their luggage. Car seats and pepi-pods were provided for those who needed them. However pepi-pods became hard to access, as the manufacturer closed down during lockdown. Some women were reluctant to be transferred to a primary birthing unit, as visiting restrictions also applied in these facilities. Early and self-discharges increased. One positive aspect was that, with visiting restricted, staff were able to focus and spend more time with each woman, supporting her to care for her baby, and midwifery and nursing cares were provided in a timelier manner.
