Baby’s heartbeat makes birth a family affair | from NHS Lanarkshire Maternity services

A new arrival in the family should be a time of joy, but the opportunities to share in the happiness of a birth have been limited by the pandemic.

To help make the experience more of a family affair, staff gave mothers-to-be a recording of their baby’s heartbeat to share with family and friends. They also worked to ensure that fathers could safely be present during and after their child’s birth if at all possible, with new family units being confined to a room in order to stay together.

Through these proactive steps, families were allowed the opportunity of a normal birth and bonding experience in an extraordinary time.