BBC On 25 March 2020, Fiona and Ben Young drove to their local maternity unit through London’s empty streets. When they arrived, security guards sent them to the back entrance. It was day three of England’s first lockdown and the front was surrounded by patients being treated by doctors in hazmat suits.
Two days later, after a long labour, they welcomed baby Elijah. Delighted and exhausted, they left the hospital and headed home, full of anticipation over their new life as parents.
But because of lockdown, it was far from what they expected.
“No-one was allowed to visit us for months – there were no newborn cuddles with family,” Fiona recalls.
“I had a number to ring if there was an emergency, which didn’t work. We had no health visitor and no midwives. Our first visitor was a friend who walked four hours across London to sit in our garden.”
Elijah, now four and about to start school, is one of tens of thousands of babies born during the Covid pandemic. He is also one of 200 children being studied as a ‘lockdown baby’.
The Bicycle (Born in Covid Year, Core Lockdown Effects) study, which launched in July, is looking at whether the lockdowns had an impact on children’s talking and thinking skills.