Last reviewed on April 1, 2023
Expecting a child can bring with it a flurry of emotions and questions at any time, maybe more so now with COVID-19. During these challenging and changing times, the Vancouver Division of Family Practice along with its partners hopes to support your maternity care journey, making it as EASI (Effective And Seamlessly Integrated) as possible. Family doctors and pregnant people have come together to find information from trusted sources – and have collected it here – just for you!
While being pregnant during a pandemic can bring up wonder or worry, we hope that these resources will support your preparation for labour, birth, postpartum, newborn care and parenting. Of course, this information is not meant to replace the valuable and important expertise of your health care provider. Please consult your provider for which resources specifically apply to you. For a list of maternity care providers, check out our “Find a Maternity Care Doctor” section on our site.
We hope this ‘one-stop-shop’ will help you along your maternity care journey, feel free to share it with others! May you and yours stay safe and healthy, particularly at this time.
Looking for resources in other languages besides English? Please refer to the links in orange text.
What is COVID-19?
- FAQs for Vancouver (Vancouver Coastal Health)
- Public information website (BC Centre of Disease Control)
- FAQs from the international authority (World Health Organization)
- Overview article (Healthy Families BC)
- Collection of COVID-19 information and resources (OMama – an initiative of BORN Ontario)
- COVID-19 Information in your language (International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology)
How to be Prepared?
- COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant or breastfeeding (BC Centre for Disease Control)
- Comprehensive FAQs on vaccines (Immunize BC)
- Vaccine information for children 5-11 (Government of BC)
- Pregnancy and COVID-19 vaccinations: An illustrated comic (First Nations Health Authority)
- Online self-assessment to see if you need testing (Government of BC)
- General COVID-19 preparedness (Government of Canada)
- Specific to pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care (Government of Canada)
- Fact sheets for a number of COVID-19 topics in over 30 languages (Health Literacy Program)
Indigenous Resources
- COVID-19 resources (First Nations Health Authority)
- Awareness resources in Indigenous languages (Indigenous Services Canada)
- Pregnancy and COVID-19 vaccinations: An illustrated comic (First Nations Health Authority)
- Helpful Videos: Coping with COVID-19, Impact on Mental Health, Testing for COVID-19
Virtual Prenatal Classes
Most providers continue to offer virtual options. Please visit our Prenatal Classes information for a listing.
Mental Health & Coping During COVID-19
- Postpartum supports (Pacific Post Partum Society)
- What to do if you’re anxious or worried about coronavirus (Anxiety Canada)
- Additional articles on coping with COVID-19 (Anxiety Canada)
- Card system for coping with fears and anxiety (Anxiety Canada)
- Echotherapy meditation in 10 steps (NY Times)
- The CBT Skills Group Program (offering practical tools to improve your mental health) is now offered online (CBT Skills Group Society)
- Immediate 24/7 crisis support for victims of family or sexual violence is available by phone through VictimLink. For more information call 1-800-563-0808 or email: VictimLinkBC@bc211.ca
- Updated Mental Health during COVID-19 (French Resource- Government of Quebec)
Delivery Hospitals & COVID-19
Giving birth at any time can come with a mix of nervousness, excitement and other emotions. Often, there’s also a lot of questions too. With COVID, things are changing in the hospital – and more changes may happen before/when you deliver. Remember that even through this change, doctors, midwives, nurses and the entire hospital team are working hard to make sure you have the best care possible.
- BC Women’s Hospital: COVID-19 information and testing information for pregnant patients
- Updated St. Paul’s Hospital: COVID-19 information for all Providence Health Care sites, including St. Paul’s and general info about their Pregnancy, Birthing and Newborn Centre
Breastfeeding & COVID-19
- Breastfeeding FAQs (Perinatal Services BC)
- Infant formula feeding FAQs (Perinatal Services BC)
- Infographic (BC Centre for Disease Control)
- FAQ on COVID-19 and maternity, including info on breastfeeding (World Health Organization)
- Breastfeeding during COVID-19 (French Resource- Government of Quebec)
Information About Children & Parenting During COVID-19
- Vaccine information for children 5-11 (Government of BC)
- Keep calm and carry on immunizing (BC Centre for Disease Control)
- Care for children and COVID-19 info about care at Children’s Hospital (BC Children’s Hospital)
- COVID-19 and your child on CaringForKids.ca (Canadian Paediatric Society)
- How can we talk to kids about COVID-19? (Canadian Paediatric Society)
- Parenting during COVID-19 (Canadian Paediatric Society)
- “My Hero is You” children’s book (UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Mental Health)
- Article on social media and screen time (MediaSmarts)
- “I Can Recover from Home” children’s book about recovering at home (*Please note* book and authors (along with resources referenced) are from Singapore.)
- COVID-19 and your child in over 30 languages (Health Literacy Program)
Helpful Videos
- Pandemic support while pregnant videos and audio clips (The MotHERS Program)
- COV-Ed 4 Kids Series: Explaining COVID-19 (UBC Medicine)
- COV-Ed 4 Kids Series: Crash Course on PPE (UBC Medicine)
- COV-Ed 4 Kids Series Playlist (UBC Medicine)
Pregnancy Vancouver is a project of the Vancouver Division of Family Practice (VDoFP). The VDoFP is creating a network of Family Doctors to enhance and facilitate knowledge exchange about prenatal and postpartum care, connect Family Doctors, and improve the maternity care referral process.
