Sutton Bridge mum shares what it is like to give birth during lockdown

The arrival of a baby is always an important occasion for any family and a Sutton Bridge woman has shared what it is like to give birth during lockdown.

Nikki Parker and her partner Jack Priestnall were overjoyed to welcome their new daughter Eliza-Gray last month.

While the lockdown restrictions have given the family quality time to get to know each other, it has also prevented grandparents from meeting Eliza apart from glances through a window.

Miss Parker said: “I have been able to selfishly have her to myself for weeks so we were able to properly spend time with her. Jack was furloughed so he has been able to be at home longer with her.

“I do feel like I have been robbed. The likelihood is that Eliza is the last baby for myself and Jack. We have missed out on little things like using the car seat, we have only used it twice. She’s also not seen her grandparents properly as a baby and she is changing now.”

Miss Parker said that she had been quite anxious in the run-up to Eliza’s birth due to the coronavirus situation.

She had hoped to also have her 14-year-old son Tyler Parker at the birth but this was not possible due to the outbreak.

Miss Parker and Mr Priestnall headed over to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in King’s Lynn, shortly after her waters broke at 5.30pm on April 2.

Due to Eliza’s position, Miss Parker had to spend a lot of time walking around the hospital in order to move her.

She said: “It was eerie as you expect hustle and bustle in a hospital but there was no-one there.”

Eliza, who was three weeks early, was born weighing 6lb 13oz in one of the baths within The Waterlily Midwife Led Birthing Unit at 3pm on April 3.

Miss Parker said: “The midwives were brilliant and I could have not have asked for better.

“They were very supportive. It is as strange for them as it is for us.

“They wore face masks and gloves. They were very conscious of not standing too close to you and the baby.

“I felt I received the same level of care as I would have done in a normal situation.”

As there had been no complications with the birth, the new family were able to return home later that evening.

But Eliza was not able to meet her sisters Abbie (8) and Ellie (6) Priestnall until a few weeks after the birth as they had been at primary school until the closure in March.

Miss Parker said: “She didn’t see the girls straight away as they live with their mum and come over every other week. We didn’t do it for the first couple of weeks to be safe but then we got to the point that it was not fair on the girls as they were missing out as well.

“Normally we would have photographs of the girls with their new baby sister but we haven’t got those. My eight-year-old niece was so excited about Eliza but she has only seen her through the window of a car.”