New SA hospital rules relaxed so an Adelaide couple could both visit their newborn son
SA Health has relented and allowed an Adelaide couple to both visit their newborn son in hospital after strict Covid rules limited patients to one visitor a day.
SA News
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SA Health has relented and permitted a new mum and dad to visit their premature newborn son together, as a family.
New parents Sophie Miller and Trent Willimans were heartbroken that they had been banned from visiting the baby together at Flinders Medical Centre, due to strict Covid rules.
The new rules, which were announced on Wednesday, restricted neonatal nurseries to one visitor for each paitent per day.
The couple appealed publicly for SA health to “have a heart” and allow them to visit their son together.
Just before 5.30pm on Thursday, the couple were notified that babies in the neonatal unit were considered as being in their “fourth trimester”, so could be visited by both parents.
The visitor restrictions are aimed to stop the spread of Omicron cases among public hospitals, but meant the Clovelly Park couple had to take turns visiting their son.
“My husband and I haven’t been leaving the house, we’re fully vaxxed, basically the only way we could get Covid would be from the nurses, so … how is it going to make any difference with the two of us being there instead of the one?”
Seth Williams was born on November 30 at 33 weeks old, and has been on a ventilator and other machines to assist his development since.
Ms Miller said they would both happily wear PPE, provide their vaccination passport and even a negative rapid antigen test before arriving if necessary, just to be able to visit together.
“This is the most critical time in our lives, it’s our first child for both if us and we can’t live a normal life, we can’t even be together as a family,” Ms Miller said.
A spokeswoman from SA Health had advised the family to contact Flinders Medical Centre to apply for an exemption to the rules.
“Exemptions may be granted on compassionate grounds and for end-of-life care,” a statement from SA Health said.
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