For the past few weeks, leading health officials across the world have discussed the increases in hospitalizations and concerns the health care system will be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Well, part of that concern is because many patients without coronavirus will still need services, such as expectant mothers. Married At First Sight star Jamie Otis is in that boat as she’s 33 weeks pregnant and now trying to figure out where she should give birth.
The central question comes down to location. As a registered nurse, she was initially planning to have a hospital birth to be as safe as possible, but with so many COVID-19 patients clustered in hospitals, she’s worried about the fallout if either she or the baby were to contract the virus. You can read her thoughts below…
I’m not going to pretend to know what the best advice is here. I’m sure there are a lot of women dealing with the exact same choice right now, and their doctors can provide guidance on what to do. Jamie Otis’ transparency about the issue, however, is just the latest for her related to COVID-19. The reality star and her husband Doug were on vacation when the coronavirus outbreak first exploded into the national consciousness. They initially elected to stay and keep going to the beach, but as the situation worsened and some fans complained on social media, the family decided to head back home and released a statement apologizing for putting others at risk and not taking the situation seriously enough.
Jamie Otis first emerged as a contestant on The Bachelor. She finished seventh in her season and later participated in one of the spinoffs, Bachelor Pad, as well. In 2014, she appeared on the reality show Love At First Sight in which she married husband Doug Hehner, who was a complete stranger chosen by experts to allegedly be a good fit for her. By her own admission, the relationship was awkward and rocky to start, but the two ultimately decided to stay married and now seem pretty darn happy.
The family currently has two children, and she’s eagerly expecting the third one within the next several weeks. Where the child will be born is still up in the air, though her post seems to indicate she’s leaning toward the home birth. Whatever Jamie Otis ultimately chooses, let’s hope she ends up with a delivery absent any complications, and the same goes for the thousands and thousands (maybe even millions) of other women who have been put into this same position by the pandemic.
