Pregnancy Diaries

Here we go again

My title gives it away but as if 2020 wasn’t mad enough, I have had the delight of going through much of this pandemic pregnant. My little bean will be joining the world in March 2021 and just like this pregnancy has been completely different to that of baby Lucille, I thought the way I write about it should be too. Welcome to my Pregnancy Diaries, an insight in to what it is like to be pregnant in Ireland, during a pandemic.

There has been such media coverage during Covid-19 regarding maternity services it has been at times overwhelming to think I am included in that group. The recent publication of the Investigation into the Mother and Baby Homes has only amplified the treatment of women in this country and although my qualms may seem trivial, the little I have read of the report (it is a very tough read) reminded me that I should be grateful for the maternity care I am receiving, but also that I should never stop expecting the best. The very best from the people who have my life and my baby’s life in their hands.

I have been fortunate enough so far, to have had a routine pregnancy, but nothing about pregnancy and childbirth is ‘routine’. For something that is so unique and personal, at times it seems the women giving birth are irrelevant in their own care. My opinion was firmly established pre Covid-19 and it has only been solidified the past year. I hope you can appreciate I am writing about my experience, and in no way do I want to take away from the joy or seriousness others may face during their pregnancy. Or in fact take away from the efforts of those midwives and doctors who do their jobs well.

During the past seven months, I have made little notes along the way of various encounters. Some frustrating and some funny. I haven’t taken as many pictures as I would have liked, but there is no way I will be forgetting my maternity fashion this time around. There is a maternity fashion post heading your way and you can see for yourselves how Covid-19 has affected my wardrobe. The very first of my Pregnancy Diaries will be hitting your inboxes soon, and it is a great way to start; two very different examples of ‘routine checks’.