Dear clients of CMK,

With COVID-19 regulations changing in communities in Ontario, we would like you all to know which policies have changed (and which ones are staying the same) at Kingston General Hospital and in our clinic.

At Kingston General Hospital, the labour and delivery unit on Connell 5 is now allowing a second fully vaccinated labour support person via an exceptions process. This means that if you wish to have a second support person, you need to speak with your midwife so that they can put an exception request in for you at the hospital. This policy update may be particularly helpful for clients who would like to have a doula present at the hospital for labour support. As always, if you require a C-section, there is only one support person allowed in the OR with you.

You are also allowed a single unvaccinated support partner on labour and delivery as long as that person has a negative rapid antigen test. That unvaccinated support person can be present in the OR for a planned or unplanned C-section. 

For our clinic, our COVID-19 policies are not changing quite yet, so support people are still not allowed in for clinic visits at this time. We will ensure everyone is notified by email when our support person policy is able to change. Masks will certainly still be required in the clinic and hospital even after the community mask mandates lift next week. Healthcare settings must continue to take careful precautions, and we have had many clients and family members who have contracted COVID-19 very recently. We appreciate your patience and respect for our efforts to keep pregnant people and newborns safe in our clinic space.