The coronavirus pandemic has forced people to stay home and has changed the working routines for most of us. Some have stopped working altogether, others were lucky enough to work from home, while others still have to be on the front line.
Those people are mostly health care providers, doctors, nurses, and assistants, who have been in charge of admitting suspicious patients and monitor their health, trying to make sure they will get their lives back after the fight with the deadly virus.
Unfortunately, some of these people belong to more vulnerable groups- they could be doctors of a certain age, nurses that suffer from autoimmune diseases themselves, or pregnant women.
All of these people still have to go to work, considering their situation and, of course, taking all the safety measures necessary, in order to help fellow citizens that now need them more than ever.
One of the many pregnant women on the front line is Taylor Poynter, a 27-year-old physician assistant at a hospital in Joliet, Illinois.
Poynter is now 33 weeks pregnant and she has been working in the Emergency department of the hospital, coming in contact with various patients every day, some of which are sick with COVID-19.
Unfortunately, for Poynter, staying at home is not an option during this pandemic, as she explains, and this makes her subject to severe criticism by people telling her she is risking her baby’s health by going to work.
“Some women are being told they aren’t allowed to work due to being pregnant, and then are told they can’t use their pto. Some of us can’t use our pto now and afford maternity leave. We don’t have the luxury of staying home,” she explains in an Instagram post.
Poynter goes on to explain what it feels like to be pregnant amid the chaos that is currently going on in hospitals. She is trying to give people an idea of what it feels like to have a hormonal dance inside you, the stress that every mother-to-be has anyway, plus the desire to treat patients in the most effective way possible.
At the same time, Poynter is trying to raise awareness through her posts about the fact that personal protective equipment (PPE) is limited, and that knowing this inevitably causes more fear and anxiety.
“On a national level, PPE is officially limited, supplies intermittently are running low in certain areas, and we are reusing our masks for the purpose of conservation,” she wrote in one of her posts.
So, as this woman points out, people should first consider all the aspects of a situation before judging anyone about their choices- or what seems like a choice when there is really no other option available.
“We don’t post pictures of ourselves to brag about working while pregnant. We don’t post to be proud. We post to remember our pregnancy, our experience, our time with our little ones.”
Poynter’s words are powerful and true. No mother out there would choose to expose their baby (or unborn baby) to a potentially deadly virus, but the truth is that sometimes there is just one option and you have to go with it.
We want to thank Taylor and all the other health care providers for their hard work and commitment during this difficult time, and we wish that they all stay safe and strong- this too shall pass!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
