Through the Eyes of a Child: Honoring Mass General Staff

These days, many children are adapting to classrooms via computer meeting, art projects drawn on the sidewalk or family driveway, and a life without afterschool programs and play dates.

Things are no different for the daughter of Massachusetts General Hospital obstetrician and gynecologist Carrie Coleman, MD, who says “we try to keep up just like everyone else” and in her daughter Caroline’s case, “with kindergarten at home.”

But Coleman says Caroline may have learned one important lesson just from listening to her mother talk about her many pregnant colleagues—across all departments at Mass General—from medicine, to environmental services, to food and nutrition.

“I comment all the time on how incredible it is to see expectant women on staff at Mass General who are heading into work every day without missing a beat, and despite many of the worries surrounding COVID-19,” says Coleman. Currently, staff who are pregnant at Mass General are permitted to work in and around patients who have COVID-19, provided appropriate precautions and personal protective equipment (PPE) are used. After reaching 37 weeks of pregnancy, Mass General recommends those staff avoid all in-person patient contact.

Coleman says Caroline must have picked up on her praise for soon-to-be moms, as Caroline recently presented her with a drawing depicting a “mommy unicorn running into work with a baby unicorn in her tummy.”

“It sends a powerful message,” says Coleman. “We are all so proud of the mothers, parents and other family caregivers who continue working at our hospital during this time.”