COVID-19 Policy and Safety Procedures

 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 

• During our visit I will use at minimum: disposable, medical- grade face mask (KN95 or above, when available), nitrile examination gloves, medical scrubs, shoe covers (if available, if not available I will remove my shoes at the entryway to prevent bringing in contaminants.) It is typical of me to wear my hair covered or pulled/ styled away from my face to also minimize exposures. 

• Upon entering your home, I will immediately remove my shoes or don covers. I will then ask to use the nearest restroom to wash my hands (min. of 20 sec, per CDC guidelines). Scrubs worn will be changed per client. Any teaching tools, dolls, carriers, or devices (including scales) will be sanitized with the appropriate cleaning solutions. Scales: To protect your infant from skin contact, I may ask you to provide a receiving blanket or use a chux pad to create a barrier. Gloves will be used anytime a physical examination needs to be made (i.e. breast or infant oral exam.) Gloves will be discarded, with new ones used for any new examination. Hand washing or sanitizing with 60%< alcohol solution will also be employed after any examination or contact with bodily fluids. 

• I will require the use of masks in the home by you, the client, and any applicable support persons. This is not only to protect you, but myself, and any other families I may serve. Masks must be worn at all times during the consultation, per CDC guidelines- covering the nose, mouth, and chin of the wearer. Disposable, 2- ply fabric masks, and gaiters are acceptable. Decorative, lace, mesh, scarves, etc masks will not be acceptable, and if no other acceptable mask is available one can be provided or the consult rescheduled to virtual. Valved masks must be covered (these do not protect others from your exhaled aerosols. Read more about this here. 

• You are entitled to not wearing a mask, and I am entitled not to render services. If you decide to refuse an appropriate mask for our combined safety, or are physically unable to wear one, your consultation may be changed to virtual or cancelled. I will try my best to refer you to a lactation professional that better aligns with your needs.

 Exposure policy 

• If you or a member of your household experience an exposure prior to our visit: 

  • Please follow the direction of your local health department- make note of the day of exposure, length of time you may have been exposed, masked/ unmasked, symptomatic/ asymptomatic, etc. A negative rapid/ PCR test may be required to continue with the home visit, or we can move the visit to a virtual platform.

• If I or a member of my household experiences an exposure prior to our visit:

  • I will notify any clients of an exposure and give the option to move the visit to a virtual platform, be referred to another provider, or cancel. Any visit cancelled on my behalf will not be charged. I will work with my local health department to screen for risk and symptoms and submit for PCR testing. If the test is negative, I may still quarantine for a minimum of 3 days to ensure a true negative result. 

• If either party tests positive after our visit, I highly recommend submitting to the local contact tracing officers to help notify and mitigate further exposures. Direct phone contact should be attempted first to ensure prompt response, followed by or accompanied by email. 

 

Illness Policy 

• If you experience any of the following, your in- person visit may be cancelled or moved to virtual, if applicable:

  • Fever, chills, or sweats

  • Cough*

  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

  • Fatigue

  • Muscle or body aches*

  • Headache*

  • New loss of taste or smell

  • Sore throat

  • Congestion or runny nose*

  • Nausea or vomiting

  • Diarrhea

*new, or in conjunction with one or more symptoms

• If I experience any of the above symptoms, I will contact you to discuss cancellation and rescheduling.

 

• If your visit needs to be cancelled, we will make every attempt to reasonably accommodate:

  • A virtual consult, held via our secure platform.

  • If a home visit was requested or a complex issue being resolved, you will be referred to another skilled provider local to your area.

​

Tiara Caldwell LPN, IBCLC

Crowned & Cradled

Upper Marlboro, MD

​

Katy Linda IBCLC

The Breastfeeding Den at The Rumina Center

Baltimore, MD

​

Ann Faust MD, IBCLC

Baby & Me LC

Columbia, MD

​

Maureen Lopina, IBCLC

The Breastfeeding Ctr. of Greater Washington

Northern Virginia/ Washington, DC

 

• To reschedule an in- person visit after exposure/ positive result, the mandated quarantine period must pass (10-14 days per Health Department guidelines) AND PCR test proves negative. 

• If you fail to notify Whitney and present with active symptoms at the time of  appointment, the consultation will be promptly cancelled and a cancellation fee in the sum of the visit charged. 

• If a member of your household is symptomatic or quarantined, I need you to notify me immediately, so that proper cancellations or rescheduling may occur. I may also request the date of symptom onset, date of quarantine end, and negative test results. 

• If a member of my household is symptomatic or quarantined, I will alert you as soon as possible to move to a virtual platform, refer to another available provider, or reschedule when the quarantine period has passed AND PCR test proves negative. 

• Fees for cancellations received prior to the visit due to confirmed or suspected illness will be waived, with the option of moving to a virtual visit or rescheduled at a later date. Cancellations initiated due to the provider will also incur no charge. All other cancellations received less than 2 hours to appointment time will be charged $50. 

Notification Policy

• In the unfortunate circumstance that I present symptomatic or positive for any infectious disease/ virus (including the novel coronavirus/ SARS-Cov-2 and its variants)

  • You will be notified promptly if your in- person visit was within the last14 days of symptom onset/ positive test results. I will cooperate with my local health department officials, (Prince Georges and/ or Montgomery County, MD) and participate in contact tracing. 

• I will try to contact you in the most direct manner, and may follow up using one or more methods:

  • Phone call/ Text 

  • Email 

  • Secure message 

  • Health Department/ Government contact tracing. Learn more about contact tracing here.

• For in- person consults, please contact me immediately if you develop any of the following, so that we can determine next steps:

  • Fever, chills, or sweats

  • Cough

  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

  • Fatigue

  • Muscle or body aches*

  • Headache*

  • New loss of taste or smell

  • Sore throat

  • Congestion or runny nose*

  • Nausea or vomiting

  • Diarrhea

*new, or in conjunction with one or more symptoms

• Contact me immediately if you receive a specific diagnosis of an infectious disease/ virus (including the novel coronavirus/ SARS-Cov-2 and its variants).  

 

Prevention policy 

• I respect your individual rights to informed consent and choice to vaccinate or not. Therefore I do not require you to receive any vaccine for an infectious disease. 

  • As a clinician working with vulnerable populations in the community, I have chosen to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as approved by the FDA for emergency use. Proof of vaccination can be obtained upon request, if desired. 

• Temperature checks may be performed upon entry to your home with a contactless thermometer. As the client, you may request a temperature reading from me.

• As an added precaution, clothing changes (scrubs) may be performed. It is customary that I arrive in a branded or themed tee, and put on a new scrub top at the beginning of the consultation to ensure your baby is not coming in contact.