Parents Say They Can’t Visit Baby In NICU Who Has COVID-19

CARY, IL — A Cary family is calling on two Chicago-area hospitals to reconsider their visitor policies after they were separated from their newborn son when he tested positive for COVID-19.

Jay Olesen was born Dec. 27 at Northwestern Medicine's Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago. His parents, Jesse and Jessica Olesen, knew the birth could be complicated.

Doctors planned to deliver Jay at 38 weeks, and he was taken directly to the neonatal intensive care unit after birth.

“They wanted him out sooner rather than later,” Jesse Olesen said. “He was delivered at 38 weeks. He went straight to the NICU. That was the plan.”

Jessica Olesen had been nursing her son while he was being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit at Northwestern Medicine's Prentice Women's Hospital.

On Jan. 6, Jay was scheduled to be transferred to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago for neurosurgery to treat a buildup of fluid in his head, Jesse Olesen said. Before the transfer, however, Jay was required to take a COVID-19 test. The result came back positive.

Hospital staff told the Olesens that Jay would remain at Prentice and that they needed to leave the hospital and get tested for COVID-19 themselves. According to Jesse Olesen, staff said the couple could return after 14 days if they tested negative or after 10 days if they tested positive.

"They basically just kicked me and my wife out," Jesse Olesen told Patch.

The Olesens objected, noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recently shortened its recommended isolation period for people who test positive for COVID-19 from 10 days to five.

"They kept coming back saying, 'We have our own hospital policies,'" Olesen said. "No matter what we said, they argued against it."

The situation became more urgent on Sunday when hospital staff informed the couple that Jay needed to be transferred immediately to Lurie Children's for evaluation and surgery after doctors detected an intestinal blockage.

The Olesens went to the hospital and were allowed to see their son. Jessica Olesen, who had tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend but remained asymptomatic, stayed overnight. The following day, hospital staff told her she would have to leave and that the couple could not return until Jan. 17, according to Jesse Olesen.

Olesen said the policy that kept the couple away from their newborn son was misguided.

"There's no good enough excuse to separate a mom from her newborn, especially when she's breastfeeding," he said.

Northwestern Medicine's visitor policy, updated Jan. 1, allows up to two visitors in neonatal intensive care units across its facilities, including Prentice Women's Hospital. The policy posted online does not specifically address situations involving newborns or caregivers who test positive for COVID-19. The health system also notes that visitation policies are subject to change.

Patch contacted Northwestern Medicine for clarification regarding the policy but had not received a response as of Thursday.

Kary McIlwain, senior vice president and public information officer at Lurie Children's, said in an email that an asymptomatic mother who is willing to wear a mask can stay with her baby.

"If she has symptoms, we would have to ask her to leave, as we would anyone, including doctors and nurses," McIlwain said.

Jesse Olesen said he, his wife and their son were all asymptomatic.

When asked about the family's specific case, Julianne Bardele, associate director of public affairs and communications for Lurie Children's, said the hospital could not comment on individual patients because of privacy laws.

"We can share the general policy but are unable to comment on a specific situation due to patient privacy," Bardele said.

"However, our health care teams work with individual families to provide the safest visitation possible. We especially never want to keep a family from their baby, and we work with each family to meet their needs."

Patch also contacted the Illinois Department of Public Health regarding guidance for newborns who test positive for COVID-19 but had not received a response as of Friday morning.