UNE alum helping to keep newborns safe during pandemic

When Danielle Landry (B.S. Nursing, ’13) decided to go into the health care field, she always knew she wanted to work in a hospital labor and delivery unit.

“There is just something about being with somebody who is going through a remarkable life changing event,” she explained. “It is truly rewarding and I love it.”

For the past several weeks, Landry has been making sure newborns are safe from COVID-19.

“Keeping babies, their mothers, and my staff safe are our main goals right now,” she said.

Landry is the assistant nurse manager at the University of Vermont Medical Center’s Labor and Delivery Unit in Burlington.

“Our hospital has been really great at being at the forefront during this pandemic and willing to accept the changes that are happening so fast,” she stated.

All staff and visitors must now wear masks before entering the facility. Patients in Landry’s unit are allowed one visitor per day.

“We’re focused on bringing new life into this world, as well as the new family that it's creating,” Landry said. “Allowing a visitor in is designed for family bonding, which is so incredibly important.”

Right now, there is not a lot of information about the impacts of COVID-19 on babies. Landry and her team are going by the standard that older adults and younger children are most susceptible to the virus.

Landry says she is operating under the assumption “that older people and younger ones, especially newborns and toddlers, are more susceptible. So, we are just being overly conscious and careful with them,” she commented.

So far, Landry says the area she is in has not been hit hard by the coronavirus. She is hoping it stays that way.

“We are lucky up here in Vermont,” she said. “We have been in this nice little bubble. We have been expecting to get hit hard and we just haven't been yet. We spend a lot of time running through simulations drills so that everybody is on the same page and comfortable with how to proceed in case things do change.”