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“So, being pregnant and delivering in a pandemic … what’s that gonna look like?”

That question, sent to me by a colleague who is both a registered nurse and an expectant mother, stopped me in my tracks. As an OB-GYN physician, I naturally focus on the science of health care. Her email reminded me of the uncertainty expectant mothers now face as health risks and the health care system around them change amid this coronavirus pandemic.

While knowledge about the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, is rapidly evolving and there are still many unknowns, medical groups and studies are starting to provide advice and answers to questions many expecting families are asking.

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Do pregnant women face greater risk from COVID-19?

So far, the data on COVID-19 does not suggest pregnant women are at higher risk of getting the virus, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. However, as we have seen from the flu they are at greater risk of harm if they get respiratory infections. Pregnancy causes a variety of changes in the body and results in a slight immunocompromised state which can lead to infections causing more injury and damage.

Does having the coronavirus create a greater risk of miscarriage or preterm labor?

Studies have not yet been done to show if having COVID-19 during pregnancy increases the chance of miscarriage, but there is some evidence from other illnesses. During the SARS coronavirus epidemic in 2002-2003, women with the virus were found to have a slightly higher risk of miscarriage, but only those who were severely ill.

Having respiratory viral infections during pregnancy, such as the flu, has been associated with problems like low birth weight and preterm birth. Additionally, having a high fever early in pregnancy may increase the risk of certain birth defects, although the overall occurrence of those defects is still low.

Can a mother with COVID-19 pass the virus to her baby in the womb?

This data is evolving fast. Two papers published March 26 describe finding coronavirus antibodies in three newborns of mothers with COVID-19. That could suggest they had been exposed to the virus in the womb, though the virus itself was not detected in their umbilical cord blood and researchers have raised questions about the type of test used. Researchers in an earlier study found no evidence of COVID-19 in the amniotic fluid or cord blood of six other infants born to infected women. While the research papers include only a small number of cases, a lack of vertical transmission – from the mother to child in utero – would be consistent with what is seen with other common respiratory viral illnesses in pregnancy, such as influenza.

There have been a few reports of newborns as young as a few days old with infection. But in those cases, it is believed that the mother or a family member transmitted the infection to the infant through close contact after delivery. The virus can be transmitted through a cough or sneeze, which could spread virus-laden droplets on a newborn.

How are prenatal checkups changing?

Prenatal care may look different for a while to control the spread of COVID-19 among patients, caregivers and medical staff.

Typically, a pregnant woman has about 14 prenatal visits. That may be reduced by approximately half, with telemedicine playing a larger role. Telemedicine is already endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for patients in rural settings. Now, the pandemic is making virtual care solutions an indispensable tool. Pregnant women are able to do some at-home monitoring, such as for high blood pressure, diabetes and contractions, and telemedicine can even be used by pregnancy consultants, such as endocrinologists and genetic counselors.

The frequency of sonogram appointments may also change. The Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine says it is safe to reduce “routine” ultrasounds at this time without jeopardizing the health and safety of the pregnancy. Of course, some patients with specific conditions like twins or babies with suspected birth defects may require more traditional follow up.

images.theconversation.com

What should I expect during delivery?

Hospitals are doing what they can to minimize person-to-person transmission, and that may mean delivery looks different, too. Some hospitals are screening all medical staff, including with temperature checks, at the start of shifts.

Visitors are also being restricted. Recently, a hospital in New York enforced a no visitor policy, including partners, for patients about to give birth, citing coronavirus risk. This is definitely not what laboring women envision for their delivery, but in times of widespread communicable disease, it is reality.

If I have COVID-19, will I need a cesarean section?

No. Having COVID-19 is not a reason for a cesarean. There’s no evidence that either method, vaginal birth or cesarean, is safer when it comes to COVID-19. Although data is still limited, other coronavirus infections have not been known to pass to the child from vaginal birth.

Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine believe, in most cases, the timing of delivery should not be dictated by the mother’s COVID-19 diagnosis. Women infected early in pregnancy who recover should see no change to their delivery schedule. For women infected later in pregnancy, it is reasonable to attempt to postpone the delivery, as long as no other medical reason arises, until the mother receives a negative test result.

How long will I be in the hospital after I give birth, and what if I have COVID-19?

Expect a faster discharge from the hospital. To limit the risk of inadvertent exposure and infection, the ACOG says discharge may be considered after 12 to 24 hours, rather than the usual 24 to 48 hours for women with uncomplicated vaginal births, and after two days for women with cesarean births, depending on their health status.

For mothers with confirmed COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that infants be isolated from them, which understandably is not ideal. That could mean drawing a curtain between the mother and newborn and keeping them at least six feet apart. The CDC suggests continuing that separation until 72 hours after the mother’s fever is gone. If no other healthy adult is present in the room to care for the newborn, a mother who has confirmed or suspected COVID-19 should put on a facemask and practice hand hygiene before each feeding or other close contact with her newborn.

Is home birth safer than a hospital right now?

If a woman chooses to have her baby in a hospital or birthing center, she will have a dedicated team of health care providers trained to protect her and her baby from COVID-19 and handle any unforeseen complications. There is some concern regarding person-to-person exposure with COVID-19 in a home birth setting due to fewer restrictions on visitors. Although the ACOG has not made a statement specifically on this risk, the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has a statement advising against home birth for women who have been exposed to COVID-19.

Can I breastfeed my baby if I have COVID-19?

In limited cases reported to date, no evidence of virus has been found in the breast milk of women infected with COVID-19; however, precautions are still recommended. Breastfeeding is encouraged and is a potentially important source of antibody protection for the infant. The CDC recommends that during temporary separation, women who intend to breastfeed should be encouraged to pump their breast milk to establish and maintain milk supply. The mother should wash her hands before touching any pump or bottle parts. If possible, it is also recommended to have someone who is healthy feed the infant.

Having a child is a momentous occasion that should be celebrated, including during a pandemic. Do your part to keep yourself healthy. Wash your hands, maintain social distance and keep in close contact with your health care providers throughout the pregnancy. It may not be what you envisioned, but you will have quite a story to tell your children.

Hector Chapa is Clinical Assistant Professor, Director of Interprofessional Education, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation. You can read it here.

There are many things you’re probably missing from two-plus weeks quarantining, but here’s one you probably never thought would be absent from your life: talk show sets. A fair amount of late night television has moved to the personal homes of its many stars. One of those is Conan, whose main host promised he’d figure out a socially distancing way to get back on the air. And, on Monday night, O’Brien debuted the new, super low-tech, temporary version of his beloved show.

“I’m Conan O’Brien, and yes, that was the least professional opening I’ve ever done for a TV show: I just came in and sat down on a stool,” he said as he awkwardly lowered himself into a chair in front of a webcam. “And here comes the unbelievable part: I’ve been practicing that move for two weeks.”

O’Brien will be recording from his Los Angeles home — in front of two guitars, a bust of Teddy Roosevelt, and what looks like an old-timey drawing of Abraham Lincoln — until the COVID-19 outbreak dies down enough for all of us to fear the outdoors and each other. His maiden voyage features a Skype-ing guest, one Adam Sandler (though that part hasn’t gone live just yet), as well as longtime sidekick Andy Richter, recording from what appears to be his living room. The Conan self-deprecation, however, remains in-tact.

“Please do not worry about me. I’m fine. I’m perfectly healthy. This is just the way I look,” he said about his not-too-disheveled looks. (His hair remains fantastic.) He said his home broadcasts will not provide helpful information about the novel coronavirus. “These shows will tell you nothing, they will contain no information,” he said, adding, “You’ll probably be stupider after you see these shows than you were before.

“All I can promise you is this will be a highly unprofessional endeavor, night after night,” he joked.

In an attempt to pretend things are still semi-normal, there was some banter with Richter, as well as some Simpsons trivia: Turns out one of O’Brien’s most beloved scripts for the cartoon giant, the Season 4 titan “Marge vs. the Monorail,” was originally written not with Leonard Nimoy as a guest but George Takei. “He said, ‘I can’t do it because I’m on the board of public transportation,’” O’Brien said, then, as proof, showed an old PSA the erstwhile Sulu recorded about the glories of taking city buses.

You can watch the first segment above, and O’Brien’s viral chat with Sandler will be live at 5:30am right here.

Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free WWE Raw results for March 30, 2020. The latest Performance Center quarantine edition of the show (and go-home Raw for WrestleMania, somehow) featured promos from the Edge and Undertaker, a replay of last year’s WrestleMania main event, and more. Make sure you’re here tomorrow for the complete Best and Worst of Raw column.

WWE Raw Results:

– The Undertaker cut a promo calling AJ Styles “Allen Jones,” saying he only joined WWE after all the good wrestlers like Stone Cold and The Rock retired so he could stay a big fish in a small pond, and, believe it or not, said that at WrestleMania Styles would “rest in peace.”

– Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch from WrestleMania 35 was shown in full. Becky Lynch stood on the stage at the Performance Center and watched the entire thing. When it was over, Shayna Baszler attacked her from behind, choked her out, and posed with the Raw Women’s Championship.

1. Aleister Black defeated Jason Cade with Black Mass.

2. Kevin Owens and the Street Profits defeated Angel Garza, Austin Theory, and Seth Rollins. Owens pinned Garza after a Stunner, but Rollins immediately Stomped him afterward. After the match, Owens stayed in the ring and cut a promo on Rollins, saying that nobody likes him.

– Edge talked about how Randy Orton has been coasting his entire career, and that while after the Conchairto he was considering going back into retirement, Orton dragged him back into WWE by putting his hands on his wife and saying the names of his children.

3. Asuka defeated Kayden Carter by submission with the Asuka Lock.

– Footage was shown of Charlotte Flair attacking Rhea Ripley from behind when Ripley arrived at the building earlier today.

– Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio from Survivor Series was shown in full.

– Paul Heyman talked about how Brock Lesnar’s going to win at WrestleMania, and said that Brock’s going to be in the go-home segment of the go-home Raw before next year’s WrestleMania.

Nearly two years have passed since ESPN announced the upcoming 10-hour documentary about the 1998 Chicago Bulls, titled “The Last Dance.” Originally, there was hope that the film could air in 2019 but, eventually, things settled in with a scheduled airdate of June 2020. With that said, there has been a massive internet movement for ESPN to push the series up as quickly as possible with the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the absence of live sports content — with LeBron James even voicing his support for moving it up.

In mid-March, ESPN threw a bit of cold water on the potential to move the airdate, insisting that the documentary wasn’t done with production and thus couldn’t be released just yet. That all changed on Monday evening, though, with Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reporting that the documentary will begin airing on Sunday, April 19. There has been no formal announcement to this point, but Marchand’s reporting indicates that “ABC/ESPN plans to make an announcement on ‘Good Morning America’ on Tuesday.”

While April 19 is still nearly three weeks away, the arrival of this highly anticipated piece of sports media content will be welcomed with open arms, especially for basketball diehards that have been counting down the days until they can take a deep dive into Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls. ESPN famously enjoyed massive success, both from casual audiences and critics, with Ezra Edelman’s “OJ: Made In America” documentary and, if “The Last Dance” can follow closely in the massive footsteps of that effort, consumers will be thrilled to spend ten hours with the product in the near future.

While the rest of us normal humans may be social distancing by sitting at home binge watching Tiger King on Netflix and devouring our entire snack supply in one day, Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer showed everyone that he hasn’t lost his touch with a new video on Twitter. The 38-year-old casually hit shots against a wall between his legs and behind his back with blistering pace — and in the snow no less.

“Making sure I still remember how to hit trick shots #TennisAtHome,” he captioned the post.

Before showing off his tweeners on the internet, the 20-time Grand Slam champion announced that he and his wife Mirka had donated one million Swiss francs to an emergency assistance fund for families in need in Switzerland.

Last week, Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal announced that he was partnering with two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol to raise 11 million euros to help Spain fight the coronavirus. The pair are working with the Red Cross, and have donated their own money in addition to getting the support of other Spanish athletes like former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas and Marc Salles, a field hockey player for Atlètic Terrassa.

Meanwhile, in efforts to social distance, tennis stars around the world are staying home and seem to be just as bored as the rest of us.

23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams is now home with her daughter, Olympia, and has been entertaining the two-year-old on Instagram Stories, modeling the outfit she would have worn at the now-canceled BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open tournaments and exercising with her sister, Venus, and comedian Amy Schumer on Instagram Live.

Coco Gauff, the 16-year-old U.S. sensation, is bored and making a lot of trips to her refrigerator, which means I finally have something in common with the youngest player ranked in the WTA top 100.

And Naomi Osaka, the two-time Grand Slam champion and first player from Japan to win a major, put out a statement on Saturday following the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.

Until then, Osaka is working on a new trade: cooking, according to the Instagram Story of her boyfriend, rapper YBN Cordae.

After the NCAA moved to cancel the postseason tournaments for winter and spring tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread discussions began surrounding the potential that student-athletes could be granted an additional year of eligibility. Athletes participating in spring sports like baseball saw most, if not all, of their 2020 season evaporate and, for seniors, the potential that eligibility would simply evaporate didn’t sit well with many people. For individuals that participated in winter sports, the chance to compete at the highest levels, with championships on the line, never arrived and, as such, they were also in the mix.

On Monday evening, however, the NCAA announced that, while spring student-athletes were granted “an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility,” winter student-athletes were not. As part of the official announcement, the NCAA indicated that “council members declined to extend eligibility for student-athletes in sports where all or much of their regular seasons were completed.”

While it would have been completely understandable and, honestly, quite fun to see the ramifications of winter athletes, particularly in the basketball world, return for another run, this was also the widely expected outcome from insiders who discussed the process with those inside the college sports industry. Because of the percentage of the 2019-20 completed, it would’ve been quite an undertaking to simply restart the clock and, financially, there would have been widespread ramifications when attempting to integrate more scholarships into the mix.

As part of the spring-sport measures, the NCAA’s Division I Council voted to “allow teams to carry more members on scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility who decide to stay.” For baseball specifically, the measure includes an expansion of the previously installed roster limit.

It should be noted that schools have to “self-apply” for eligibility for student-athletes, simply because there is a five-year clock (to complete four years of eligibility) that must be extended. Still, the dream is now rekindled for spring athletes, while winter athletes are left with the reality that the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of them into early “retirement” from their sporting endeavors.

Sports video games will remain as photorealistic as ever after a judge ruled in favor of NBA 2K publisher Take Two Interactive in lawsuit over tattoo replication in the sports video game franchise. The New York Post reported Monday that a tattoo artist suing the game maker cannot bring a case against the company for replicating his tattoo designs in the digital realm.

Judge Laura Swain dismissed the four-year-old lawsuit in an opinion filed Thursday, calling the use of the tattoos “de minimis” — meaning too trivial to merit consideration.

Solid Oak Sketches first sued the games’ maker, Take-Two Interactive, in 2016, claiming its copyright was infringed because players were shown with their distinctive tattoos for which the company holds licenses.

The idea here is that though the tattoos are on James’ body — including “Child Portrait,” “330 and Flames” and “Script with a Scroll, Clouds and Doves” — are the designs of Solid Oak and thus they should be compensated for appearing in the 2K franchise, which puts out a game each year. Interestingly, the “de minimis” ruling comes from an actual analysis of how essential they are to the makup of the game itself, meaning literally how much code they represent and whether they’re essential to the product: a basketball video game.

Swain noted expert analysis found “only 0.000286% to 0.000431% of the NBA 2K game data is devoted to the Tattoos” which were mostly blurred and blocked by other players.

Her ruling sided with Take-Two, which always argued that the tattoos were fair use because they were no longer the artists’ designs but part of the hoops stars’ likenesses.

The tattoo artists always knew that the stars’ ink would “appear in public, on television, in commercials, or in other forms of media, like video games,” her ruling noted.

That’s actually kind of an interesting point — it’s not like a tattoo artist can sue Nike or another company that pays James for endorsements just because he might appear in ads with his tattoos visible. Still, gaming companies have been wary of this lawsuit for years. Madden actually started not using athlete’s tattoos in games altogether to avoid similar lawsuits, something that could possibly change now that there’s some caselaw on the books giving game developers some cover here. It’s all a very interesting interpretation of copyright law that still could change, but tattoo artists didn’t get the ruling they were hoping for here.

[via New York Post]

With new federal guidelines extending the CDC recommendation that no gatherings of over 10 people take place through April 30, the NBA’s hopeful return likewise now has to look to June at the earliest, given that the ban on gatherings would include team facilities.

As such, the league and its broadcast partners are looking at other ways to fill the time, and with the success NASCAR is seeing with its iRacing events being broadcast on FS1, it appears the NBA is looking into similar opportunities with NBA 2K20. Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reports that the league is hoping to launch a 2K Tournament featuring NBA players this coming weekend, with the games being broadcast on ESPN.

The NBA is planning a players-only NBA2K tournament that will feature the league’s sharpest video gamers and it will be broadcast on ESPN, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The league hopes to launch the event Friday, with the tournament including some big-name players, sources said.

Haynes’ report doesn’t feature much in the way of details, but given the popularity of 2K among NBA players it shouldn’t be too hard to get guys on board, including some star caliber names. He later noted that each team is expected to have a representative in the tournament.

The question will be whether NBA players playing 2K games will draw in eyeballs similar to the NASCAR races, given that the simulations are not apples to apples — NASCAR’s virtual events allow drivers to be in a car setup, actually driving, rather than just using a video game controller. Still, it’s a creative way to fill some broadcast gaps, while also allowing guys an outlet for their competitive juices. We’ll keep you updated on who is in the tournament and all the details on when games will take place whenever an official announcement comes down.

Remember when you used to look forward to upcoming blockbusters? Well, you’re going to have to wait even longer for more. The novel coronavirus continues to affect all aspects of life, including the motion picture industry, and this should come as no surprise: The Hollywood Reporter says Sony has up and delayed a number of their major releases, including Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Uncharted, the Spider-Man spin-off Morbius and more.

As per THR:

Morbius, which was set to hit theaters on July 31, is now set to hit the big screen on to March 19, 2021. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is moving off of a July 10 release to March 5, 2021, which was previously occupied by the studio’s splashy video game adaptation Uncharted. That movie will now be release on Oct. 8, 2021— a date that was reserved for an untitled Sony Marvel movie, which now goes undated.

Meanwhile, the Kevin Hart-starring Fatherhood, once set for Oct. 23, will now bow on Jan. 15, 2021. Greyhound, which stars Tom Hanks — one of the first celebrities to test positive for COVID-19, although he and also affected wife Rita Wilson have safely returned home to Los Angeles after quarantining in Australia — was supposed to arrive on June 12, but its new date has yet to be made public.

Sony’s big move comes after many other major studios delayed major releases, including Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan and A Quiet Place II. Meanwhile, a number of movies that hit theaters just as they all closed, both here and in many places abroad, have wound up available as online rentals; if you’ve got $20, you can watch The Invisible Man, Bloodshot, Onward, and the latest iteration of Jane Austen’s Emma. Meanwhile, continue to remain indoors.

(Via THR)