Mum reunited with newborn baby after separation across border
A NSW mum has finally been reunited with her newborn baby after the two were separated on opposite sides of the Queensland border due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Chantelle Northfield was told she couldn’t see her newborn son Harvey who was rushed to Brisbane for lifesaving medical treatment after being born with breathing difficulties.
Despite Ms Northfield and her husband Glen being granted permission from NSW and Queensland authorities to travel north to visit Harvey, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital told them they were too “high-risk” and would need to quarantine for 14 days.
But today, Ms Northfield finally had her baby in her arms again after he was brought back to hospital in Lismore.
“At 1.20 pm today Harvey was brought back to the nursery at Lismore Hospital and came straight into my arms after a long 4 days,” Ms Northfield said on Facebook.
“We will forever be grateful to Lismore Base Hospital and how they did everything they could and tried their hardest to help get both Glen and I across the border to be by Harvey’s side. “We also hope that Qld allows more exemptions under medical circumstances to prevent all this from happening to any more people.”
Ms Northfield said Harvey was “doing well” but will remain in hospital for the next day or two.
Due to breathing difficulties, the newborn was sent to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital for “extensive” medical treatment.
“I obviously wanted to go with him, but unfortunately with the coronavirus pandemic, we were not able,” Ms Northfield said, 7 News reported.
She and her partner were told they couldn’t come in the helicopter as there was no room, but were able to come by car.
After receiving the necessary permissions from NSW Health and Queensland Police, the hospital deemed them as “too high-risk”.
“Harvey was sent to a Brisbane Hospital via helicopter Friday night as he was having trouble breathing and needed further treatment then the amazing workers at Lismore could do,” Ms Northfield said in an earlier post on Facebook.
“Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the closure of the Qld border, Glen and I were refused entry to the hospital until after 14 days mandatory quarantine in a hotel.
“We would have been more than willing to do that if there was a guarantee that Harvey would be there for that long but no one is 100 per cent sure and the second he no longer needs such extensive treatment he will be flown back to Lismore.
“Any parent can understand the stress and the heartache of being home without your baby whilst they’re in a hospital and you’re not allowed to visit.”
Ms Northfield said she was relying on video calls to see Harvey, the little brother of the couple’s one-year-old son Lloyd.
“FaceTime’s just not the same because I can’t even lay a finger on him,” she told 7 News through tears on Monday.
“All I want are both my boys with me, happy and healthy. But one is going to be in Brisbane where we can’t see him.
“I just want him to know how much I love him.”