Mother’s Day: Our lock-down baby was born with compromised lungs

When a child enters the world, it is a time for family and friends to rejoice with the parents. A newborn baby marks the beginning of hope, dreams and aspirations.

But having a lockdown baby was one of the most unexpected challenges first-time parents Cisco and Sarah-Jane van Heerden from Mbombela had to face.

And today, as the world celebrates mothers across the globe, their first Mother’s Day with baby Simoné Tahya will forever be a bitter-sweet memory.

Watch the video interview with the couple and their daughter here:

Baby Simoné was supposed to be born on March 24, but she had other plans and just after midnight on April 3, she entered the world at Medi-Clinic Nelspruit. Her birth one week into the lockdown created much uncertainty and stress for the new parents.

The couple had prepared for the birth with the help of a doula but when Sarah-Jane went into labour, they were told that the doula would not be able to assist.

This caused additional stress at an already tremendously difficult time. Cisco recalled his panic when they got to the hospital and found that there were fewer staff on duty due to lockdown regulations.

He said it was then that it hit home that Simoné’s birth was not going to go as planned. Even getting his wife a cold drink and chocolate during her labour was problematic as the usual canteen services weren’t available and he had to rush to a nearby garage for these.

Simoné’s birth was also complicated by the fact that she was just over 41 weeks at the time of delivery. In addition, she had contracted a bacterial infection in the birth canal and during labour she had a faecal discharge which found its way into her system, resulting in a lung infection.

Sarah-Jane was discharged early the next morning, but Simoné stayed behind, spending her first four days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where, said her parents, she received excellent care.

Had the same sequence of events unfolded without Covid-19, the couple would have been able to visit their baby regularly but due to lockdown restrictions, they could see her only twice a day.

Not having family or friends to support them was something the young couple could never have imagined. Even after Simoné was discharged, nobody was able to meet the newest member of the family.

Cisco’s parents, Neels and Susann van Heerden, only managed to see her several weeks after her birth. Due to a variety of circumstances, Sarah-Jane’s mother has yet to meet her granddaughter.

But despite these challenges, the young couple remains positive and tries to Skype and Facetime loved ones as often as possible.

They are extremely cautious about contact with others and admit that they may have become ‘a bit paranoid’ about exposing Simoné to people at this stage. “We know she is fragile and already has compromised lungs,” Cisco explained.

Cisco said he planned to spoil Sarah-Jane with breakfast in bed and doing ‘dad duty’ to allow his wife to sleep in on her very first Mother’s Day.