We were able to get some additional information from the Duke leadership about visitation and doulas at the Duke birthing center.
In labor, patients are allowed 2 support people. With the exception of COVID+ patients, there should be no restriction on coming and going on the unit. While visiting hours do not apply during labor, access to the hospital is limited between 9pm-6am. This means that between the hours of 6am and 9pm, doulas can come and go and do not have to stay the duration of the labor. We can also get the on-call administrator (OA) involved if you need to come/go during the 9pm-6am hours. The charge nurse can help with this and the nursing leadership is supportive.
For COVID+ patients, they are limited to 1 visitor and that person is asked to not come and go (the assumption is that since that visitor is also likely COVID+ or needs to quarantine since they have been exposed).
The 2nd visitor or doula can stay for the duration of the patient’s recovery. This period of time is typically 2-4 hours after birth, before the patient is transferred to the postpartum unit. This can allow for breastfeeding and postpartum support.
We are still talking about the postpartum unit visitor guidelines. Right now the guideline is that patients can have 1 designated visit. Our hope is that over time we can increase visitor options for people and we are aware of the issues this policy can cause for families and their support team. We are working on it!
If you have issues in the future, you are welcome to reach out to me or Dr. Small directly. If we don’t know the answer, we can help figure it out.