Hopes for a more positive experience for new mums during second lockdown
Women, who gave birth during the height of the pandemic, believe the second lockdown will be a more positive experience for parents than the first.
It's believed around 200 thousand babies were born in the UK when the original lockdown was at its most restrictive, between March and July this year.
New mums across the Midlands say lockdown left them with sporadic post-natal care and has impacted their mental health.
Kirsty Woods gave birth to baby Edie in May. She said: "Having a baby anyway is a life changing thing and is wonderful and hard in lots of ways but having gone through it with all the challenges of being in a pandemic is really special."
A mum of two already, postnatal care felt accessible to Kirsty.
She said: "There was a slight difference in the way they were delivering post-natal care with some of the care carried out over the phone as opposed to face to face appointments but they did come and visit me face to face when I needed it."
Kirsty partially put this down to her persistance.
"I pushed for my six-week check with the GP, I chased that up. I chased things up with the health visitor and I think that's why I managed to access the good care."
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Meanwhile, other mums say they've felt unsupported and alone. Amy spent a week in the hospital with newborn Heidi and the lockdown meant no visitors.
Amy said: " My husband had just given her a cuddle, pretty much has a brief cuddle and then he was kicked out, had to go." It was a time that was tough for her maternal mental health.
Some mums believe some changes put in place mean lockdown two is an improvement from last time.
Amy said:" It's going to be a lot better this time than the first time. They've put a lot more in place to have someone over for respite care. There's still nursery and childcare still going on which is a massive plus."
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