A mother was forced to give birth in an isolated hospital room without her partner after she falsely tested positive for COVID-19.
Heather Stocks had to deliver her son, Vinnie, at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, England with midwives dressed in full personal protective equipment (PPE), and did not allow her partner or her mom to come up and see her.
Stocks was told that she needed to have a growth scan because her baby’s movements were less than usual.
This meant she had to undergo a routine COVID-19 test, despite not having any symptoms.
“A midwife told me that my Covid test had come back positive,” she said, “At this point, I was distraught.”
“I had no symptoms whatsoever and they couldn’t understand it.”
The result prompted hospital staff to put her in an isolated room, and was told that no one could come up and see her.
“I birthed my baby boy with just me, a midwife and a student midwife,” said Stocks.
“They were not allowed to leave the room until I gave birth and they had filled in all my paperwork.”
The paperwork was put in a plastic bag before being taken out of the room.
After giving birth, health care workers told Stocks that she “wasn’t allowed to be touched for a period of time.”
“When they confirmed my partner wasn’t allowed up because I was positive, he had to meet a midwife downstairs at the doors,” she added.
“He didn’t see me or his son until I was out the day later.”
Six days after she was discharged, the hospital called her to say, “it was a false positive and I no longer had to isolate.”
“I was so confused I couldn’t rest and went to ring them,” she added.
“How many more people has this happened to, where they are testing positive and it comes back as false?”
Despite of her ordeal, Stocks remains “extremely grateful.”