Just like the rest of us, Taylor Poynter’s plans for 2020 did not include a global pandemic. But for her, they did include welcoming her first child into the world, something that has certainly complicated matters so far — not to mention the fact that she works as a physician assistant in an Illinois emergency room department.
As if that wasn’t enough, the 27-year-old has been taking some heat online over her decision to keep working during the pandemic despite being very, very pregnant.
Poynter has been sharing her experiences both as a healthcare worker and as a mom-to-be on social media.
On her Instagram , she shared a picture of herself, cradling her pregnant belly while decked out in her PPE, partly to mark the milestone of entering her third trimester. However, some folks online questioned her decision to continue working at the hospital during her pregnancy even though she does come into contact with COVID-19 patients.
For Poynter, it wasn’t much of a choice at all.
As she told Good Morning America , she doesn’t have any great options at the moment. As an ER worker, she can’t just move to a different area of the hospital. She was offered the option of taking a leave under the Family Medical and Leave Act, or to take an unpaid leave, but neither of those options worked for her financially.
“I did choose to continue working because I can’t afford to take that time off right now,” she said. “There are a lot of factors that play into why a lot of pregnant women are still working.”
And so as each day brings her closer to her due date, Poynter dons her PPE two to five times a week for her shifts.
But many out there on the internet criticized her, fearing that she was putting her baby in harm’s way by continuing to go into work.
To be clear, as with so many things about the novel coronavirus sweeping the globe, it’s unknown whether the virus poses any increased risks for pregnant women. At most, we know that pregnant women tend to have weakened immune systems and may be more susceptible to respiratory infections, according to the CDC .
But Poynter says that options and risks are beside the point.
“There are a lot of reasons pregnant women are still working, but none of us are doing it because we want to put our child in harms way,” she wrote in a follow-up Instagram post.
“We would prefer to be sitting at home. We deeply want to protect our child that we have yet to meet. We have heightened anxiety and fear compared to people staying home.”
To be fair, Poynter has received many messages of support as well.
Other pregnant women working in hospitals have reached out to her to let her know she’s not alone.
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“Just knowing there’s other women out there, even if you are the only person maybe at your hospital or site that’s pregnant and working, it’s comforting to know that other women are in the same boat and feeling the same things that you’re feeling,” she told GMA .
But the bottom line, Poynter says, is that pregnant women shouldn’t feel like they’re doing something wrong by continuing to work.
“All of a sudden that picture just kind of blew up and I started to feel like, wow, I really need to stand up for working pregnant women right now,” she told GMA. “Because it is important that I’m here and it is important that other pregnant women who are still working feel like they can still work and not be shamed for that.”
With her due date fast approaching in June, Poynter isn’t sure exactly when she’ll start her maternity leave.
She said she has felt strong and healthy throughout her pregnancy, but there are many factors to assess, including whether or not she’ll need to isolate for two weeks and whether there are still COVID-19 patients at her hospital in the coming weeks.
h/t: Good Morning America