Couples are being warned to think again if they plan to get pregnant during coronavirus lockdown – as it will only put extra pressure on the NHS.
Self-isolation has left many people with “time on their hands”, but Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said people should think “is the right time to have a baby?”.
Speaking during the Scottish Government’s daily media briefing in Edinburgh, Dr Calderwood assured pregnant women will still get the same level of care as outside the pandemic.
But said the outbreak “will last for some time” and emphasised maternity wards are emergency services – all of which are under strain trying to save lives.
“About 50 per cent of pregnancies are unplanned so perhaps think about whether this is the right time to have an unplanned pregnancy,” continued the doctor.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had been asked if the government is expecting a rise in the number of pregnancies as a consequence of people being ordered not to leave their homes.
She quickly passed the question to Dr Calderwood, who is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist.
The First Minister said afterwards: “It falls into the category of the many things I never thought I would be standing here as First Minister advising the public on.”
Dr Calderwood said: “As the obstetrician in the room, this has occurred to me that in fact we do need to be advising people about having time on their hands.
“The labour ward is always much busier nine months after Valentine’s day so we have that to consider.
“The serious point is that almost all maternity services are emergency services – they can’t be time limited, you can’t pause like elective surgery.”
She added: “It has been suggested to me that we talk to people about contraception.
“This [outbreak] will last for some time, the emergency services – the maternity services – will continue to run, though, so we have planned for all of the babies that would have been born to have exactly the same care that they would have had outside of this pandemic.
“But people are making difficult choices and we would always encourage people to think: ‘Is this the right time for me, am I in the best of health, is this a good time for me to start thinking about having a baby?”‘
On the issue of already expectant mothers, Dr Calderwood said: “We are encouraging all women who are currently pregnant to come forward, to have their scans, to have their antenatal care.
“My colleagues in the maternity services across the country have changed what they are doing to offer virtual clinics so women don’t have to travel and don’t have to be seen face-to-face but of course that contact does need to happen.”