Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s maternity unit “needs to take urgent action”, a source who has spent time at the hospital has told Edinburgh Live.
According to the source - who has asked to stay anonymous - nurses are allegedly struggling to keep up with new parents who refuse to wear masks despite repeated instructions from staff to do so.
During Scotland's first national lockdown in March last year, new mothers were not able to have their partners with them for their birth or any visitors following the arrival of the child - instead, having to wait to see their loved ones after they were discharged from the hospital.
According to current restrictions, partners of new mothers are allowed to visit Edinburgh Royal Infirmary's maternity unit between 1pm and 8pm daily.
The source said: "Dads are still getting to visit the maternity ward - that's not an issue, new mums need support, the problem is that dads are constantly being told by nurses to put their masks back on.
"When you enter the maternity unit as a guest you need to fill out a track and trace form and there are instructions everywhere that as a visitor you must keep your mask on.
"Even if you want to eat or drink while visiting you need to leave the ward to do so - it makes sense to pop out and keep others safe.
"However, you see a nurse leave the bay and all the masks come off. What follows is the constant repetition of nurses asking these visiting dads to put their masks back on.
"It's selfish - everyone is being put at risk and I've seen dads be aggressive to some of the nurses about having to wear a mask, thinking it's fine to take it off because they're behind a curtain.
"These nurses are wearing masks for 12.5 hours a day to keep their patients safe from coronavirus, surely these new parents can keep them safe back in return.
"Plenty of people obey the rules but it's shocking how often this occurs. The hospital's management needs to do something if this is going to continue being the case."
Edinburgh Live have reached out to NHS Lothian for comment.
