INDIANAPOLIS — With hospital restrictions in place and concern about interacting with COVID-19 patients, some mothers to be are turning to another option, home births.
The spread of the coronavirus is a top concern, and many area hospitals are limiting pregnant women to one visitor during delivery. Brandi Graham-Wood, a certified professional midwife with Home 4 Birth, said the restrictions are why her phone won't stop ringing.
In the past week, Graham-Wood has received nearly 50 inquiries from phone calls to Facebook messages asking for her services as a midwife. She typically works with women throughout their pregnancy, ending with a delivery in the family's home, but this has been different.
The women requesting service now are 38 weeks or later into their pregnancy and scrambling for an alternative birth plan other than a hospital.
Unfortunately, the influx of requests can't all be met, she said.
"We're meeting with people who are due May 1 and later, and I've sent the other families on to other midwives because I am already full and I want to give the best care I can to whoever I am serving," Graham-Wood said.
She said other midwives in the area are filling up quickly, too. Typically, Graham-Wood works with four or five families a month, but due to the high demand, she will be with 10 families in April.
