Families are continuing to share photos of their new arrivals to spread joy during coronavirus crisis.
Parents from across Oxfordshire are sharing photos of their new arrivals with the Oxford Mail and we want more families to do the same to put a smile on our readers’ faces.
Life has not been easy for mums giving birth during lockdown and afterwards as restrictions have sometimes limited the number of people in delivery suites and on maternity wards.
Two more families have shared with us snaps of their bundles of joy.
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Lucy Pritchard and her partner Stephen Bowler, from Didcot, told how their daughter Ruby May was born at Wallingford Maternity and Birthing Centre.
She is a sister for their two other daughters, Sienna and Isla.
Ms Pritchard said: “Baby Ruby was born on her due date 24/04/2020 I woke up early with contractions that were very painful.
“ I called Wallingford and they told me to get there for 5am so we woke our two girls up and headed there.
“We had decided that I would birth on my own to reduce the risk of the virus being passed on.
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“At 15:27 I finally gave birth in the birthing pool. The midwife immediately face-timed Stephen and the girls to show them the new arrival.
“Vicky at Wallingford was a brilliant midwife and stayed by my side the whole time she acted as my birthing partner. I can’t thank her and the team enough.”
Also celebrating are Rachel Bashir and her husband Mousa, from Headington, after their first child, daughter Lena, was born at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Their daughter’s birth was overdue and she weighed 10lb.
Lena Bashir
Mrs Bashir said: “Lena arrived two weeks’ late on September 3 with an induction at 10lb and with a full head of hair.
“I think she would have stayed put for much longer if we had let her, she seemed pretty comfy!
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“We had to stay in for a week as she got an infection but fortunately for us they had recently started allowing one visitor for one hour each day so although it was really tough and she didn’t meet her grandparents or others, she at least got to see her Daddy for one hour a day.”
Lena Bashir
Lockdown has been difficult for some pregnant women who have been unable to bring partners with them into important scans, appointments, and even, in some cases, into the delivery room.
Many have become frustrated with the current rules, with a petition asking the Government to agree to ‘partners allowed for the entirety of labour/birth in all hospitals' gathering over 360,000 signatures over the last three months.
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The rules have relaxed since the height of the pandemic but this has not been the case in all hospitals.
At Oxford University Hospitals, one birth partner only is allowed for birth, including Caesarean section. For more visit the website ouh.nhs.uk/maternity.
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