Coronavirus: New dad forced to watch the birth of his child on video call after social distancing rules stopped him from being at wife's bedside

A couple have opened up about about the birth of their child amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

New dad Marty Gandelman, 34, had to nervously watch the birth of his first baby on video calling app Zoom due to the coronavirus social distancing rules that stopped him from being at his wife’s bedside during labour.

Marty and his wife Stephanie, 34, have revealed how Marty had to sit at home and watch as his wife, delivered their son, Jake, in hospital late last month in New Jersey, USA.

Steph says she always imagined how it will be for her husband, to be holding her hand at her bedside when she gave birth to their first child but that couldn’t happen as hospitals banned the presence of spouses and family members in delivery rooms due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Steph says after they were notified of the ban, Marty had to settle for watching his wife go through labor through video call with his laptop.

Steph went into labor on March 27 at Mount Sinai Hospital, Manhattan, New York after successfully falling pregnant on round four of IVF as she has been trying to have a baby for three years and had suffered three miscarriages earlier.

She now admits it was tough to go through childbirth alone with ‘upset’ Marty, stuck at home.

She said: ‘He was more upset than I was to be honest because Jake is our first child together and he was sad that he could not be there to see his son born. ‘When we heard the news that Marty couldn’t be in the room with me we were both really sad and it was hard to take.

‘But I was still happy I was able to go to hospital as normal and when it sunk in, all we cared about was making sure the baby would be ok and cared for properly. ‘When I was in labor I just thought of the camera as Marty, rather than a camera. It didn’t really change anything for me and it was comforting to know he was there.

‘I was happy for Marty because he was still able to share that moment with me. But it was hard for him to see me in pain. ‘He was very nervous and it must have been difficult having to stay at home.’

Marty added: ‘By the time it happened it had sunk in that I had to stay at home but I was very, very upset at first. ‘When I saw how many doctors were there on Zoom I knew she was safe, which helped.
‘But not being there to hug and kiss Jake right away was tough, of course. ‘When I saw that mum and baby were both ok I was over the moon and to be honest, being able to watch did make it feel like I was in the room with them.’

‘We were both very happy when the pregnancy went as planned and was without any real problems’, Steph said.

‘We both have a bit of a fertility issue but it’s mainly me, I have a fewer egg count. When I fell pregnant for the fourth time I was very scared that I’d miscarriage again. ‘But the pregnancy went great, at least until the coronavirus stuff kicked off two weeks before I was due to deliver the baby.’

Three-week-old baby, Jake, is yet to meet his grandparents or any other relatives because of social distancing rules. Jake was born weighing 7lb 5oz and was allowed to go home with mom, Steph, the day after being delivered. Marty, picked mom and baby up from hospital and has revealed how ‘amazing’ it was to meet his son Jake for the first time.

Steph said: ‘When the hospital told us about it (labour room social distancing rules) they said in the same email that we could have a virtual delivery for our partners. ‘As soon as that option was presented to us we knew that’s what we wanted to do.’

Marty said: ‘It was a shame I couldn’t be there to hold Steph’s hand but under the circumstances it worked out perfectly well.’
‘When I finally met Jake it was such a great feeling. ‘I gave him and kiss and a cuddle and then drove home to isolate away from everything.