Visitors are generally not allowed at appointments.  Exceptions include minor children for whom childcare cannot be obtained, or someone assisting a patient due to disability.  We encourage you to have your support person participate through your phone or Facetime.

Covid negative and support people: for COVID-19 negative patients, one support person is allowed.  Every 24 hours it is an option to have that support person leave, and another arrive.

There is a list of low-cost options for classes and services for pregnant people at this website.  The Homeless Prenatal Program has also started doing virtual childbirth classes.  To find out about this (and other services) call 415-546-6756.

Unfortunately, our policy at the UCSF Birth Center is that only one support person (+ a doula) is allowed every 24 hours and that person needs to be at least 18 years old.  As of 6/24, one labor support doula will be allowed for the labor phase of care. Here are some parameters:

In addition to the primary caregiver, a patient may elect to have a labor support doula. No more than 2 people will  be allowed (one primary caregiver, one doula)

• All doulas will be required to comply with health screening and UCSF visitor masking guidelines at all times

Doulas will be allowed only in the labor phase of care and not until the patient is admitted. 

The bedside RN will need to escalate to Admin Team or Nursing Supervisor to have the doula added as an exception to the visitor list. 

Depending on the doula schedule, they may switch out every 12 hours. This is an exception and is not meant to encourage additional switching less than 24 hours. 

u can request an epidural whenever you want it and anesthesia will arrive as soon as they are available. You do not have to wait until you are at a specific point in your labor to request an epidural — unless that is what you desire!

It is important to realize, once you receive an epidural you will not have the ability to move the lower half of your body so you will remain in bed, have a catheter placed to remove your urine, and staff are available to help turn you.

The hospital will allow a professional doula to be present with a laboring person in addition to the patient’s support person.  Please speak with your doula about this, as many doulas are not able or willing to come to the hospital at this point, and instead are providing support virtually.

Yes, you can bring any items you would like with you to your labor.

Covid negative and support people: for COVID-19 negative patients, one support person is allowed.  Every 24 hours it is an option to have that support person leave, and another arrive.

Due to the risk of aerosolized droplets that carry the COVID-19 virus we are currently suspending the use of nitrous gas for pain management or oxygen for laboring women.

We are offering COVID-19 testing to all patients who are admitted to labor and delivery, whether or not they have symptoms of COVID-19.

If you choose to get COVID-19 testing when you’re admitted and you are negative you will not have to wear a mask. If you are not tested or are COVID-19 positive, you will be required to wear a mask whenever staff are in the room with you.

If you find it is too difficult to wear a mask while pushing you can take it off then.

Your support person will also be required to wear a mask when staff are in the room.

All methods of relieving pain in labor (except for the nitrous mentioned above) are available to patients in labor. If you have not received information about these options from your prenatal provider ask for it as your next visit, and be sure to ask your provider questions to help you understand these options so you can make the choices that are best for you during your labor.

The bedside phone can be used. We are working on other technology, but right now it would just be the bedside phone, the patient’s phone, or the support person’s phone. We have free WiFi.

Most people stay in the hospital 2-3 days after a c-section.  How long someone can stay beyond that depends on two things: one, what kind of insurance the patient has (some allow more days than others), and two, if a patient has complications (staying more days because of this will be covered by any insurance type).  Like with anyone who’s had a baby at San Francisco General, if the baby needs to stay but the parent has to be discharged, we can find ways for the parent to stay even after being discharged – you will not have to go home if you’d prefer to stay with your baby.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary goal of our NICU’s visitation guidelines is to support bonding time between parents and their newborns while also protecting our fragile NICU patients from community exposure to COVID-19.

• Each newborn in the NICU may have two designated caregivers as visitors, but only one caregiver may visit at a time.
• Visitors should wear masks while in the hospital and will also be asked to wash their hands and wear a gown over their clothes while they are holding their babies in the NICU.
• We encourage caregivers to visit for as long as they are able, and we recommend visiting once a day for an extended period of time so that entry and exit from the hospital is minimized.
• All visitors will be asked questions about their health.  Visitors who have symptoms, fever, or close contact with a COVID-19-positive person may not visit the NICU.
  
• Caregivers who have been discharged from the hospital and who were previously COVID-19-positive must meet the community standards for coming off of isolation before visiting the NICU.

As our information about the COVID-19 pandemic changes, the visitation guidelines for the hospital and the NICU may also change.  During your hospitalization, please feel free to ask the NICU team about the latest guidelines.

A newborn is tested for COVID-19 using a small swab that is gently inserted into the nostril. Although newborns may experience a small amount of discomfort during the test, it is very transient and they are easily soothed after the test just by being held, rocked, and/or breastfed. Newborns do not appear to experience a large or lasting amount of pain from the COVID-19 test.

Some insurance companies may cover a trained nurse to do home visit for newborn babies, Medi-cal insurance does not cover this option at this time.

Nevertheless, SF Department  of Public Health has a home visiting nursing program that is available to Medical insured pregnant people and newborns. If you are interested in having a home visiting nurse who can support you and your baby up to 2 years after birth, please speak to your prenatal or pediatric provider as early as possible (referrals during pregnancy must be made by 28 weeks of pregnancy.) During Covid, the availability of home visiting nurses has decreased, so this resource cannot be guaranteed to every person. Separately, home weight checks for newborns may be available to help decrease visits between your first in-clinic check-up and 2-week check-up, and you can work with your baby’s provider to decide if your baby needs these checks and if they are available.

If referring to Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)? Yes, i partially oversee that program as well. The mom needs to be referred during pregnancy. She needs to be enrolled before 28 weeks’ gestation and needs to be a primip or not have parented for more than 30 days. 

You can still refer pediatric clients for PHN services, but they must have an ongoing medical and psychosocial issue to qualify. To be honest, we currently have a long waiting list and pediatric referrals are the last to get assigned so it could be months. 

Please let me know if you have any questions. If there is ever a referral you are considering making beyond weight checks I am happy to review it and will let you know.

If you or advised to have your child quarantine at home, it is most likely because they have had a close contact (like a caregiver or someone who lives in your home) who has tested positive for COVID-19. Their quarantine period is a time to stay at home, minimize contact with other people and monitor for symptoms of COVID-19. You may also have your child tested at the start and/or at the end of the 14 day quarantine period. 

During this the entire 14-day isolation period, you should follow these guidelines:

• Use a separate bathroom from other people, if possible
• Sleep in a different bedroom, or 6 feet away from anyone else at home
• Avoid sharing dishes, drinking glasses, cups, towels, or bedding with other people without washing with hot, soapy water first
• Wash personal items often with hot, soapy water or antibacterial cleaning solution
• Clean “high touch” surfaces like doorknobs, drawer pulls, faucet handles, toilet handles, phones, computer keyboards, etc. frequently
• Wash any surfaces or fabrics that may have blood, stool, or body fluids (like spit or snot) on them with hot, soapy water

Coming soon