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Reuters

Health

Gustavo Graf and Laura Gottesdiener

Fearing coronavirus, Mexico City couple opt for home birth

Karla Lopez Rangel, 24, who is pregnant, sits in an inflatable birthing pool as she experiences contractions at her home, where she plans to give birth, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico, May 24, 2020. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf SEARCH "COVID-19 MEXICO BIRTH" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

After nearly 15 hours of labor, Karla Lopez Rangel received a stern warning from her midwife: if you do not deliver the baby now, we will have to rush you to the hospital.

Although she was exhausted and battered by contractions, Lopez knew the hospital was the last place she wanted to be.

Miguel Flores Torres, 24, fills up with water an inflatable birthing pool for his pregnant wife Karla Lopez Rangel, where she plans to give birth at their home, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico, May 24, 2020. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

It was the morning of May 25, and coronavirus cases were surging across Mexico City. Dozens of the capital's health facilities were saturated with patients. More than 30 healthcare workers in the city had died after contracting the virus.

In the weeks leading up to the birth, Lopez and her husband, Miguel Flores Torres, had become increasingly worried. Iztapalapa, the working-class neighborhood of Mexico City where they lived, was the epicenter of the pandemic in Mexico.

By early May, Iztapalapa had the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. The neighborhood's crematories began running on 24-hour shifts as the bodies piled up.

Miguel Flores Torres, 24, comforts his wife Karla Lopez Rangel, 24, who is pregnant, as she experiences contractions at their home, where she plans to give birth, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico, May 24, 2020. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

As the lockdown hit the economy, Flores temporarily lost his job. The only hospitals the couple could afford began accepting COVID-19 patients, and Lopez worried about becoming infected during labor.

So as the due date approached, the couple scrambled to find an alternative birthing plan that avoided the hospitals.

"I thought it was too risky," said Lopez. "I was terrified of not knowing what could happen if I entered the hospital."

Luz Carrera Lopez, a midwife, checks the heartbeat of Karla Lopez Rangel's, 24, foetus as she experiences contractions at her home, where she plans to give birth, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico, May 24, 2020. "I thought it was too risky," said Lopez "I was terrified of not knowing what could happen if I entered the hospital." REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

The couple, both aged 24, moved to a small apartment in a neighborhood of Mexico City with fewer cases. They hired midwives who specialized in home deliveries and they bought an inflatable birthing pool from WalMart.

That's unusual in Mexico, where government data indicates that over 90% of births occur in hospitals.

The couple had met years earlier online, when they discovered they had shared interests in Japanese anime and heavy metal bands.

Karla Lopez Rangel, 24, who is pregnant, is supported by her husband Miguel Flores Torres, 24, and her midwife Luz Aurora Carrera Lopez while giving birth during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico, May 24, 2020. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

The night of the birth, however, Lopez wanted a calmer atmosphere, and she labored first in silence and then to the sounds of a flowing river from a YouTube meditation video.

Flores clutched his wife's hand as she suffered contractions.

'ALL THE FORCE I HAD'

Lopez was not prepared for just how painful a natural delivery could be. During the birth of their first son, Angel, the hospital staff gave her so much medication that she could hardly feel her body.

This time was different.

After receiving the warning from her midwife, Lopez settled her sore body into the warm water of the birthing tub and prepared to push.

Miguel Flores Torres, 24, rests on a bed next to his wife Karla Lopez Rangel, 24, who is pregnant, as she sits in a inflatable birthing pool while labouring at their home, where she plans to give birth, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico, May 25, 2020. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

"I had to use all the force I had left," she said.

At 5:36 a.m., she delivered her healthy son Sabino Yoehí, weighing 3.4 kilograms (7.5 lb).

With the number of cases still climbing daily in Mexico, Lopez and Flores are being careful to avoid exposure. But they say they're looking forward to visiting parks and the zoo when the quarantine lifts.