Lehigh Valley Health Network has made the following updates to visitation guidelines for LVHN’s Family Birth and Newborn Centers:

• If you reside in or have recently traveled to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut, you may visit family health and newborn centers as long as you meet the same screening criteria required of all hospital visitors.

• If you have been quarantined at home due to suspected COVID-19, you will not be permitted to visit family birth and newborn centers until you meet the criteria to discontinue home quarantine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you can stop quarantining at home at least seven days from the start of your symptoms AND after at least 72 hours without fever, coughing or shortness of breath.

• If you are under home quarantine for international travel or interstate travel from New York or New Jersey, you will not be permitted to visit Family Birth and Newborn Centers.

Still in effect

The following Family Birth and Newborn Centers visitation restrictions remain in effect:

Triage: Unless delivery appears imminent, anyone who accompanies patients to the hospital will be asked to wait in their car or leave the campus and return for pickup if patient is discharged. One support person will be permitted to accompany the patient if she is admitted for delivery.

Perinatal/antepartum units: Visitation on perinatal units is not permitted, except under unusual circumstances that should be approved by unit leadership. Examples might include high chance of emergent delivery, fetal demise, postpartum care on PNU due to overflow or for a medical indication.

Labor & delivery/mother-baby unit: Visitation will still be permitted on labor & delivery and mother-baby units with health screening procedures.

Patients and visitors will undergo daily monitoring during the stay in the hospital - temperature and assessment of symptoms.

Visitors will bring their own mask (a clean, dry, freshly laundered cloth mask is acceptable) to be worn at all times in the hospital.

One consistent person should remain through the entire stay - if they leave the hospital, they may not return.

Visitors will remain in the patient room for the entirety of the stay except to visit newborn admitted to NICU; meals can be provided for visitors by patient food services.

Operating room: Visitors will not be permitted in the operating room in the event of a cesarean section due to the risk of viral exposure.

The visitor or support person is welcome to remain just outside of the operating room where the baby will be received after delivery.

Patients will also be required to wear masks, preferably their own brought from home, including freshly washed cloth masks.

If they do not bring a mask, one will be provided to them. While staff at LVHN are using universal PPE, we recognize that contamination of physical surfaces can occur by asymptomatic patients and visitors which is prompting the requirement of masking of these people as well.

See LVHN.org/motherhoodpartners for more details.