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Becoming A Parent In A Global Pandemic

Having anew baby is a major life change regardless of the circumstances. But in a global pandemic, giving birth and raising a small child invites a unique set of challenges and concerns.
Aditya Romansa
/
Unsplash
Having a new baby is a major life change regardless of the circumstances. But in a global pandemic, giving birth and raising a small child invites a unique set of challenges and concerns.

For many people, becoming a parent is the single biggest moment of their life. It’s a period full of joy, love and anxiety in the best of times. Becoming a parent, or caring for a small child in a pandemic brings with it a whole new set of stressors and fears.

On this episode of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with new and expecting mothers about navigating pregnancy, birth and raising babies in a global pandemic.

Brooke Freund was eight months pregnant when the pandemic struck Iowa, and she gave birth during the earliest wave of cases. Now the mother of a healthy nine-month-old girl, Freund reflects on her experiences arriving at the hospital for her birth in a mask, navigating difficult social distancing conversations with excited relatives and returning to work as an in-person junior high teacher with a small child at home.

Later, Aaliyah Quinn discusses her own experience raising a young child in the pandemic and the work her mutual aid organization The Supply Hive is doing to support Black mothers as the pandemic continues. Nurse-Midwife Amber Goodrich, who is pregnant herself, also joins the program to discuss how new parents can seek support and care while raising newborns as COVID-19 continues to limit contact with loved ones.

Guests:

  • Brooke Freund, Iowa City mother
  • Aaliyah Quinn, cofounder of The Supply Hive
  • Amber Goodrich, certified nurse-midwife and director of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Midwifery Clinic
Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa
Katelyn Harrop is a producer for IPR's River to River and Talk of Iowa