One of the biggest questions we get regularly is, “Are you open? Can you still help us? What precautions are you all taking?” Pandemic or not, bringing home a baby still comes with uncertainty and fatigue. While we continue to fight a pandemic for the foreseeable future, families are back at work trying their best to juggle work and raising a newborn, while still being cautious about COVID-19 health concerns.
At Hush Little Baby health and hygiene have always been at the forefront of our services due to the vulnerable population we serve. COVID-19 has brought so much uncertainty and pivots to our everyday lives, along with our roles as Newborn Care Specialists. While our guidelines look different, our commitment to helping families is still consistent. Below are the guidelines we have in place for our team members currently providing services.
- Team members are only serving one client at a time (no splitting the week with two families unless otherwise discussed and approved).
- Clients can request and pay for a COVID-19 test for the team member prior to services starting.
- Clients can pay a retainer fee for the team member to participate in a voluntary self-isolation period leading up to the due date of a baby.
- Team members will be practicing social distancing/self-isolation when off shift.
- During a contract, the team member will go straight from their residence to the client’s home, including changing clothes before their shift and checking their temperature before they depart each night.
- No travel is allowed in the last 14 days or a 2-week quarantine period is required if a team member has traveled.
- If a team member needs personal items, they are utilizing services like Shipt or drive up grocery services.
- A team member will not be using public transportation.
- A team member will be following CDC standards for hand washing.
- At this time, we are not requiring glove wearing for team members as it has not been shown to be effective per the CDC guidelines.
- A team member will remove themselves from an assignment if they have been in contact with anyone who may have shown any symptoms of COVID-19.
- Face masks are not required at this time but may be requested by a family to be in use when working directly with baby.
- Hush Little Baby will continually monitor the CDC guidelines along with local state and governmental guidelines as they develop to alter our current guidelines as we learn more about COVID-19.
For clients who are not comfortable with having a team member provide in home services, we currently offer virtual support throughout consultation services. Team members can assist with any area a client may need assistance with.