Infection Safety Precautions
Last updated November 7, 2024
We continue taking precautions to mitigate risk of infection for ourselves, our clients (and their little ones), and our community.
We want to be transparent with you about the health and safety precautions we are taking in our work and life to avoid the spread of COVID, flu, and RSV infections.
If you have any questions about the precautions listed here, please let us know. We are happy to have detailed conversations about measures we are taking to help you feel as comfortable as possible.
Questions about our infection precautions?
Current policies
For in-person appointments: If everyone is healthy, we may not wear masks
For in-person birth support: We will most likely be wearing N95 or KN95 masks
You are welcome to mask when we are together if you’d like, but that’s totally up to you! We wear masks since we are often in close proximity to pregnant folks and babies, and we want to avoid spreading anything (Covid, flu, RSV, colds, etc.) from family to family!
If you or anyone in your household has tested positive for Covid, flu, or RSV, has had any infection symptoms within 7 days prior to our visit, or has recently been exposed to someone with a confirmed Covid, flu, or RSV case:
we can keep the appointment time and meet virtually instead, or
we can reschedule the appointment for after everyone in your household is healthy again (rescheduling is no problem for us, so please don’t hesitate to ask!)
Marlee and Megan after receiving our first bivalent boosters in 2023
How we are helping to keep ourselves and our community safe:
We are fully vaccinated for Covid (including boosters), flu, and TDAP
We wear masks. We wear N95 or KN95 masks when we are sharing indoor space with many people (i.e. Target, grocery stores, performances, etc.)
We use carrageenan nasal spray when spending time around people outside of our household
We rarely eat indoors at restaurants. When we do enjoy a meal out, we still opt for outdoor seating whenever possible
We offer virtual options for many services to minimize exposure for ourselves and our clients, especially considering that most of our clients have little ones at home who are unable to be vaccinated yet
We use rapid tests and PCR tests if we have a known exposure or experience Covid-like symptoms.
Additional resources
Local respiratory infection data:
Information on community spread of respiratory viruses in Allegheny County
Covid:
We have found this advice from a front-line Covid doctor helpful in navigating precautions as new Covid variants continue to circulate
Evidence Based Birth created a handout about the Covid-19 vaccines and pregnancy. They have also published Covid-19 evidence round-ups. You can read past pandemic info newsletters and sign up for their email list to receive future updates.
Joint statement from the two main professional organizations for OBGYNs regarding the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine during pregnancy (info about the bivalent booster here)
InfantRisk, one of our favorite resources for medication safety in pregnancy and lactation, published an evaluation of the evidence on Covid-19 vaccines during the perinatal period
Dear Pandemic and Your Local Epidemiologist (Dr. Katelyn Jetelina) are helpful social media accounts that translate available Covid-related data for the benefit of the non-scientist public
Flu:
CDC recommendations for flu protection during pregnancy
The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) provides information about the safety and efficacy of flu vaccines during pregnancy
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommendations for prevention and control of flu among kids
RSV:
Your Local Epidemiologist shared a guide to RSV protection for fall 2024
ACOG provides information about the new RSV protection options as of fall 2023
The AAP published information about RSV protection options