What To Expect When You're Expecting a Pandemic

WILMINGTON, N.C. - Just over a month...

This is how long the country has been locked down due to COVID-19. It's also how much time Toyah Flowers has left in her final trimester of pregnancy.

While the nation has seen the many ways the coronavirus has impacted various aspects of Americans' lives, most are unaware of how it is affecting the new lives being born everyday.

As a first-time expecting mother, Flowers planned to spend her final weeks before giving birth washing baby clothes, putting the finishing touches on a nursery, and celebrating with a baby shower.
Instead she and her husband must prepare the best they can under numerous COVID-19 restrictions.

"It's easier to look at things in [a] store and know 'that's what I want to get'." says Flowers, who is limited to online shopping for most of her baby's needs.

As most hospitals in North Carolina and around the country have instituted stricter visitor policies, Flowers must come to terms with giving birth in less-than-ideal circumstances.
"It makes me really sad," expresses Flowers. "I can have my husband there, but not my moms, no visitors, not my sisters,"

Despite these unprecedented conditions, planning for the impending arrival of her daughter in late May, has provided Flowers with plenty to do at a time when much of the country is sitting idle.