As we continue our attempts to contain the spread of COVID-19 (“the Coronavirus”), we will be making further changes to our Maternal Child Health (MCH) Unit visitation policy as we deem necessary.

Please note, many Connecticut hospitals are seeing an influx of patients to their labor units from other regions. These patients are seeking the ability to bring a support person to their own delivery. For many services, these patients are presenting from high risk regions such as NYC, where the support person has now been banned from the delivery room.

This practice pattern raises many concerns. First, potentially higher risk patients may be traveling to our currently lower risk region with a greater risk of exposure for our patients and staff to COVID-19. In addition, there are various concerns with regard to continuity of care for these patients. Some patients may present unannounced to our labor unit, and our OB physicians have no knowledge of their medical condition or complications that may have occurred over the course of their pregnancy.

Therefore, we have again made necessary changes to our visitation policy on MCH. The most recent policy includes:

1) You must be a patient of the DKMG OB/GYN practice to have a support person allowed with you on MCH.

2) Patient visitors will be limited to one support person per patient.

3) This support person will be screened for risk factors for COVID-19 and only allowed on the unit if deemed low risk.

4) If a support person has risk factors, or shows symptoms of illness, we will ask that an alternate support person be identified, as this person will not be allowed on the unit.

5) All support people will be asked to use alcohol based hand sanitizer prior to entering the unit, and then wash their hands again with soap & water upon entering the labor rooms.

6) Children will not be allowed on the unit.

7) If anyone presents to MCH for acute care who is not from the DKMG OB/GYN practice, they will still be cared for in standard fashion. However, their support person will not be allowed in the hospital.

Please note, to assist in this containment process, the DKMG OB/GYN practice will also be adjusting their current policy for new registrants of the OB service. More specifically, any “new” OB patient registering with the practice must currently reside (proof required) in Windham County, Or the surrounding counties of Tolland, New London (CT), Providence & Kent (RI), Worcester (MA). This policy does not affect currently registered patients of the practice.

Again, these are temporary measures put in place to limit exposure for our patients,newborns, as well as our staff. These measures are subject to change at any time, and exceptions may be made for unique circumstances at the discretion of the Medical Director. We understand this may be an inconvenience for many, but these changes are in the best interest of our community.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Day Kimball Hospital

For the latest information, refer to the CDC website, www.cdc.gov and the CT DPH website, www.ct.gov/coronavirus. Local measures to contain the spread of the virus are available at Day Kimball Healthcare at www.daykimball.org/coronavirus, or call 2-1-1, the CT State Hotline for information.