Health Team

Mother upset about WakeMed policy that prevents young siblings from visiting newborn

Starting Oct. 1, children under 12 won't be able to visit their moms or newborn siblings at WakeMed as a result of an annual hospital policy.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Starting Oct. 1, children under 12 won’t be able to visit their moms or newborn siblings at WakeMed as a result of an annual hospital policy.
According to information posted on the hospital’s website, the flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) circulate widely in the fall, winter and early spring and can be deadly to newborns and young children.

To help stop the spread of those diseases to infants, a person must be over the age of 12 to visit the labor, delivery and postpartum units and nurseries at all WakeMed facilities.

According to hospital officials, the policy is implemented every year, but was put into place earlier than usual because the community has seen several cases of RSV.

Hospital officials note that while a child may feel fine, flu symptoms can be contagious up to 24 hours before a person begins showing symptoms.

"Someone can sneeze and the virus can stay around for a long time, and you may not know you're sick when you start to spread it at times, so that can be a real problem," said Dr. West Paul, chief quality medical staff officer.

On the WakeMed Raleigh campus, those under 12 are also barred from visiting the neonatal intensive care unit, the pediatric intensive care unit and children’s hospital.

"We have a lot of great OBGYNs that deliver here and only here, and I think part of the reason they deliver here is because they know our safety parameters," Paul said.

Expectant mother Kelly Collier, who is scheduled to undergo a cesarean section on Oct. 17, uses a doctor who only delivers at WakeMed. She said she learned about the policy banning children under 12 and is now determined to find a new place to give birth so that her 6-year-old daughter, Rosalie, can be included.

"So we are now 3 and a half weeks before my due date, trying to find a doctor that practices at another hospital that will take me on and deliver so that she can be part of that process," Collier said. "If I had known about this policy a month ago, two months ago, I would have had a lot more time to find a physician and get comfortable with a physician."

Collier said she has spoken to several people at the hospital, who told her that exceptions will not be made to the policy, even if she got a note from her child's doctor stating she is not sick.

Collier said Rosalie has prayed for a baby brother or sister for the last two years and has spent the last eight months being told she would be able to come to the hospital when the baby is born.

"For me, it's not only taking away that time with her baby brother, but it's separating her from me. It's taking away her ability to put her hands on me and to let her know mommy is OK," Collier said of the policy.

According to WakeMed's website, exceptions to the policy will be made in rare instances, particularly for bereavement purposes or significant extenuating family circumstances.

"There can be exceptions for this. We try to keep them exceedingly limited if we can, but again, we think this is the right thing to do for our patients and families," Paul said. "Everyone would like an exception, but we really have to weigh that risk of safety for our patients and for our smallest patients, which will be that newborn."

Hospital officials said the restrictions will be lifted as soon as it is safe to do so, and noted that the number of illnesses in the community tends to decline around March.

“We truly understand that this visitation restriction is difficult for families to understand, but it is our job to make sure your fragile newborn baby enters the world in an infection-free environment,” said a statement from the hospital.

Rex Women's Center does not place age restrictions on child visitors but does begin restricting children in the neonatal unit around October because those babies are more suscepitble to illness, according to spokesman Alan Wolf.

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