SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It has been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Those early weeks were terrifying for so many, including expectant parents.
Fiona Castleton’s 11-month-old son Angus will know nothing but life in a pandemic after making his entrance into the world just when life as we knew it would change.
“I was about three weeks from giving birth when we went into the lockdown last year,” Fiona Castleton said.
The possibility of contracting COVID while pregnant, especially in those early days of uncertainty, lingered in Castleton’s mind.
“We didn't know very much about the transmission between mom and infants, so that was really scary,” Castleton said.
Another frightening aspect for the soon-to-be new mom was the possibility of losing crucial support after the baby was born.
“There was always this narrative around post-partum that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and ‘you should really call upon your supports and accept support,’” Castelton, “Then to have that sort of narrative change to ‘don't let anybody touch your baby, don't let anybody meet your baby.’”
But Castleton was able to find her support virtually. Before the pandemic, she took classes at Sacramento perinatal wellness studio, The Root: Birth, Babies, Beyond. Pre-pandemic, the studio offered in-person pre-natal and post-partum classes.
Owner Kellie Edson said the business quickly adapted their programs to Zoom, outdoor classes and gathering in a large open garage space. Moves made not just to keep classes going but, most importantly, the sense of community among new parents.
“[Parenting is] the great equalizer, I have moms who are doctors, I have moms who are lawyers, I have a mom who’s doing Zoom district attorney stuff while trying to care for a toddler,” Edson said, “All of these different professions who can support one another but, at the end of the day, we’re parents.”
Edson’s main message to parents struggling to raise babies and older kids during the pandemic:
“Reaching out when you feel like you’re alone because you’re probably feeling the exact same thing that somebody else is.”
So what lies ahead for 11-month-old baby Angus Castleton, one of the first babies born at the start of the pandemic? He still has plenty of people waiting to meet him in person, including a set of grandparents in Scotland.
“Hopefully, later this year, we’ll be able to travel, and he’ll meet them,” Castleton said.
Though many thought the pandemic could lead to a baby boom, in December, the Brookings Institute estimated that there would be at least 300,000 fewer births in 2021 than the year before.
They say they have based that estimate in large part on lessons learned following the 2007-2009 recession and the 1918 Spanish Flu.
