Local doula petitioning to prohibit hospitals from banning them from delivery rooms

MARYLAND – During the pandemic, doulas were pushed out of the delivery room due to restrictions, and were finally allowed back in, in March. However with cases once again rising, it appears expecting mothers will once again have to go without them.

Expecting mother, Morgan Hoffman tells us she’s due in September and recently got some news she wasn’t ready to hear. She says her nurse telling her she would have to make a difficult decision when it comes to who would be by her side for her delivery. “I said what about my doula, and she said it’s either your doula or your husband and I burst into tears,” says Hoffman.

Due to COVID, some hospitals such as TidalHealth Peninsula Regional is only allowing one visitor. One Maryland doula tells 47 ABC, she fought for a year to get into the delivery room, and she thought they won when visitation policies were lifted. However now with the delta variant causing more cases, the nightmare is happening again, and she says telling her expecting clients the bad news, was heart wrenching. “To have to tell my other two clients who are coming up within weeks that someone that they know and trusted and worked with, that I couldn’t be in the delivery room with them providing them comfort, it’s been really tough,” says Summer Fredrick, a doula based out of Berlin, MD.

Hoffman tells us this completely changed her birthing plan. “To just have someone that is basically like a birth class and a support person right there next to you that can kind of walk you through what’s going on and keep you motivated, because it’s stressful on your body to give birth.”

Although it’s possible this policy won’t change before she delivers she still wants to see change. “Even if it’s not changed by the time that I have my son, I don’t want anyone else to have to go through figuring out how to virtually have support,” adds Hoffman.

So to ensure that doesn’t happen anymore, Frederick says she petitioning Governor Larry Hogan to make sure to make sure hospitals can’t prohibit them anymore. “They’re necessary for women and they cannot be excluded from hospitals,” says Frederick. She also tells us, she believe as long as doulas are fully vaccinated, can show proof of vaccination as well as their doula license, then they should be allowed.

Frederick’s petition and letter to Governor Larry Hogan already has over 600 signatures in support. Meanwhile, TidalHealth Peninsula Regional tells us, they are working on a plan to allow doulas in the delivery room.

However, for now mother’s are only allowed one person in the delivery room at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional.