A pregnant New Jersey woman says she left Virtua Voorhees Hospital after she was told upon arrival to the triage unit her husband had to wait in the car during labor and delivery because of COVID-19 restrictions.
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After suffering a panic attack while waiting through contractions alone, Erin Persia thought they might have stopped and left.
"They were like, 'OK, your husband has to wait in the car,'" she said, '"He can't come back with you because of everything that's going on.'"
But the contractions came back, and Ameila Gracelyn Persia came into the world on April 3 at 10:30 a.m.
Several hours after Erin left the hospital, she felt contractions again and gave birth with the help of her husband in the family's bathtub of their Blackwood home.
"I was already in labor for maybe seven hours," she said. "I was like, 'I can't do this for very long,' and as soon as I said that, I felt her move down. He said, 'Should I call 911?' And I said, 'I don't think there's time.'"
Persia says she was never told by her doctor and did not see on Virtua's website that her husband could not be with her during the baby's birth.
Hospital officials believe the incident was a miscommunication.
"Patients are typically alone when they first present at the hospital and are initially assessed and triaged," Virtua told sister station WPVI in Philadelphia. "If the care providers determine the mom-to-be should be admitted, that is when the support person. most often a husband, can join her for labor and delivery."
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President Donald Trump salutes as the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort pulls away from the pier at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va., Saturday, March 28, 2020.AP
A member of the Rhode Island National Guard Military Police directs a motorist with New York license plates at a checkpoint on I-95 near the border with ConnecticutAP
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrive to speak in front of the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va.AP
A cyclist and a dog walker are seen along West 16th Street near Union Square, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in New York.AP
Emergency medical workers wear protective masks due to COVID-19 concerns while delivering a patient to the emergency room at Brooklyn Hospital Center, Sunday, March 29, 2020.AP
The tents used to test for COVID-19 at Elmhurst Hospital Center are seen next to the Trauma Center entrance, Sunday, March 29, 2020. MAP
A pedestrian wearing a protective mask and gloves walks down a mostly empty Dekalb Avenue, Sunday, March 29, 2020AP
Traffic is seen in the background as a pedestrian walks across the Bowery while pigeons feed in the roadway, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in New York.AP
Pedestrians and traffic are seen on Canal Street Sunday, March 29, 2020, in New York.AP
A man wearing a facial mask walks across the middle of 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan of New York, Sunday, March 29, 2020.AP
A woman wearing a facial mask makes her way across 6th Avenue near Radio City Music Hall, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in New York.AP
A patient is given a COVID-19 test by a medical worker outside Brooklyn Hospital Center, Sunday, March 29, 2020AP
The Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort passes lower Manhattan on its way to docking in New York, Monday, March 30, 2020.AP
A Samaritan's Purse crew works on building a 68 bed emergency field hospital specially equipped with a respiratory unit in New York's Central Park across from Mount Sinai HospitalAP
A man walk alone on the promenade under the FDR drive in Lower Manhattan, Sunday, March 29, 2020.AP
Light traffic frames a woman and child as they walk across Madison Avenue, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Midtown Manhattan of New York.AP
Patients wait in line while wearing protective masks and gloves for a COVID-19 test at Brooklyn Hospital Center, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Brooklyn borough of New York.AP
A pedestrian makes his way across 46th Street, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in New York's Times Square.AP
A journalist records speakers at a press briefing following the arrival of the USNS Comfort, a naval hospital ship with a 1,000 bed-capacity, Monday, March 30, 2020, at Pier 90AP
A medical worker holds an umbrella as she checks to to see if anyone is waiting in line outside a COVID-19 testing center at Elmhurst Hospital Center in New YorkAP
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