Isolated and afraid: How the pandemic is changing pregnancy

Jamie Chui has been a virtual prisoner in her Hong Kong home for most of her nine-month pregnancy.

Trapped intially by violent pro-democracy protests and tear gas, and then by the coronavirus — she now faces giving birth alone, with her husband unlikely to see his child until days later.

Asia is facing a second wave of COVID-19 infections and as cases spiral globally with one million confirmed positive and half the planet on lockdown, women are having to give birth in unprecedented circumstances.

Hong Kong and China have imposed some of the world’s strictest measures to prevent infections in maternity units: birthing partners are banned from labour units, delivery rooms and post-natal wards in public hospitals.