Pregnancy and COVID-19

Expecting a new baby is a joyful time. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are doing everything possible to provide you and your baby with the best and safest possible care during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are closely monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As leaders in our fields, we are adhering to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines.

Services for New and Existing Patients

Our providers are currently seeing patients for in-person and virtual prenatal care appointments. We also continue to see patients in person who are in need of urgent care and Labor and Delivery.

At this time, all women who are admitted to Labor and Delivery will be tested for COVID-19 to prevent any asymptomatic mother from exposing her newborn after delivery. An asymptomatic patient is one who’s infected with COVID-19 but doesn’t have symptoms. If you are 36-weeks pregnant or later, you should be tested for COVID-19 if you have at least one symptom related to a respiratory viral illness. These symptoms include: fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose/congestion, shortness of breath, muscle aches or loss of smell.

You and Your Baby at the Brigham

At the Center for Women and Newborns, we want you to know that your safety is our number one priority. We remain focused on our family-centered model of care, modified where necessary to maintain our Safe Care Commitment in this time of COVID-19.

Our Harvard-affiliated Physicians have access to the best and most current information about COVID-19. In fact, many of our staff are leading research on it. You can be confident that our patient-care decisions, including care for mothers and their newborns as it relates to COVID-19 risk, are science-based.

We are frequently asked, "Can COVID-19 be passed from mother to baby during Labor and Delivery?" The evidence shows that, if this occurs at all, it is an extremely rare event. We have tested all babies born at the Brigham to COVID-19 positive mothers. To date, not one baby has been positive.

Updated Visitor Policy

Part of our Safe Care Commitment during COVID-19 is to modify our visitor policy to protect our patients and their immediate loved ones. This policy is reviewed and updated based on the current COVID-19 threat risk in our community. At this time, obstetrics patients onsite for ambulatory visits/services (including ultrasounds) may have one visitor accompany the patient. Inpatient obstetric patients in Labor and Delivery may have two support persons. Postpartum patients may have one support person accompany them and one additional visitor between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Newborns in our Well-Baby Nurseries and in the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) may have two parents or guardians visiting. This is typically the mother and her partner or other support person wearing the second baby band.

For more information, please read our full Visitor Policies.

Contact Us

If you are a returning patient, please contact your provider’s office directly with any questions or concerns.

If you are a new patient, please contact us to schedule a consultation with one of our providers via phone or video conference:

OB/GYN: (800) 294-9999
Maternal-Fetal Medicine: (617) 732-4840