She was about to give birth when she learned she had COVID-19. Here's what happened next
Parnit Faber knew what was about to happen, as she labored with her third child, breathing heavily through a face mask.
But knowing didn't make the experience any easier.
After Faber gave birth to a boy, a nurse held up the infant for Faber to see, announced his weight - and then carried him out of the room.
Her son Lucas was healthy. But Faber, of Darien, had tested positive for COVID-19 while giving birth at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, so the baby was taken to neonatal intensive care as a precaution.
Faber didn't get to touch her child. It would be 12 days before she could hold him.
Faber was devastated, but she understood.
"It was just disheartening because what could I do?" said Faber, 39. "All I kept thinking was, I just want to make sure he's OK. I wanted him to be safe."
Chicago-area hospitals, and others across the country, are recommending that mothers with COVID-19 be separated from their newborns right after birth, in line with guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics. They are often apart in the hospital for at least 24 hours, until
