Visitor policy change for Mother and Baby units

As COVID-19 levels continue to remain low locally, CoxHealth is making a change to its visitor policy for patients on Mother and Baby units.

Effective immediately, patients on Labor and Delivery and Postpartum units may have two visitors per day. One support person may remain with the patient 24/7 while they are in the hospital. The second visitor may also be present during the baby’s birth, but will fall under the health system’s current visiting hours between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. after the mother transitions to postpartum status. These visitors must be the same two people for the duration of the hospitalization.

This change is a shift from the former policy of one visitor for the duration of a patient’s stay, which has been in place since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

“This is an exciting moment, and one we celebrate alongside our patients,” says Karen Kramer, Chief Hospital Officer and Incident Commander for COVID-19 response at CoxHealth. “We have not enjoyed the restrictions over the past months, but believe they were necessary to help limit the potential spread of COVID-19. Having a baby is a significant milestone, and it makes us very glad to be at this moment where it is safe to have more visitors with these patients at this pivotal time.”

The change affects CoxHealth’s maternity hospitals in Springfield, Branson and Monett. Visitors must be at least 18 years old, remain masked at all times while on campus, pass a temperature and symptom screening when entering the facility, and limit their movement to the patient’s room and the public restrooms.

“We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic, and make further changes to our visitor policy depending on how the disease prevalence evolves in our communities,” says Kramer.

Please note that this change does not apply to the hospital’s Perinatal Care Unit, which follows the health system’s guidelines of one visitor per day.

For more information about CoxHealth’s visitor policy, click here.