Expectant parents may spend months preparing to give birth — developing a relationship with a doctor or midwife, arranging a babysitter for other children when it’s time, and mapping the best route to the hospital.
But during an extreme weather disaster, things may not go as planned.
Smith-Johnson: “So I would suggest for people to start now doing their due diligence of knowing what-if situations.”
Tanya Smith-Johnson works with the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, a maternal care nonprofit. And she’s a certified professional midwife.
She suggests that pregnant people identify friends and family who can serve as backup support, as well as alternate health care providers.
Smith-Johnson: “Who are the folks where they can offer services or can lead you in the right way if you can’t get access to the hospital or to the doctor that you’re seeing?”
To make sure you can connect with these people, even when the power is out, she suggests getting a solar phone charger or one that plugs into your car.
She says it’s important to build a support system of people who can help if you end up going into labor during an extreme weather event.
Smith-Johnson: “’Cause we can’t do this alone, and especially when things devastating and catastrophic happen, we have to lean on each other.”
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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