At 38 weeks, Taylor Wildemann had hoped she would feel mentally prepared to give birth to her second child.
But her game plan "unravelled" when she learnt her doula would not be allowed into the birthing suite at Gosford Hospital.
Ms Wildemann said she felt stressed and anxious.
"If there's any time that women should be having doulas it is now, during a pandemic," she said.
"I felt … empowered this time, which I didn't last [birth]."
New South Wales public hospitals have been restricting the number of visitors in birthing suites to one as they battle the Omicron wave.
Women are having to choose between a paid trained support person and their partner or loved one.
Doulas provide care to women before, during and after birth by offering guidance and support.
Doulas misunderstood
Central Coast doula Gemma Wilson said some health authorities misunderstood the value of her job.
"It's really important that we are seen as part of that birth team," she said.
Ms Wilson said doulas improved birth outcomes and relieved the pressure on partners and midwives.
"We have a broken system," she said.
"We don't have continuity of care.
Expectant mothers have asked Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) for exemptions for their doulas.
Ms Wilson said some women had histories of mental illnesses, birth trauma and partners living with disabilities.
But she said requests for exemptions had been denied.
"It really truly feels like they are washing their hands of it," Ms WIlson said.
Rules to protect patients
NSW Health and CCLHD acknowledged the importance of support for women during labour and birth.
Both said the precaution had been introduced "to protect women, their babies, families, other more vulnerable patients, and staff by minimising COVID-19 exposure risk".
The NSW Health website said local health districts may allow some exemptions on compassionate grounds on a case-by-case basis.
"Local health districts are working with their patients to ensure they can bring a mobile device into the birthing suite for others in their support network to join virtually," NSW Health told the ABC.
But Ms Wildemann said a virtual hook-up was not a satisfactory option.
