From home to hospital: Giving birth during the U.S. coronavirus outbreak

Nancy Pedroza, 27, who is pregnant, holds on to Ryan Morgan, 30, her partner and father to their unborn child, as she experiences contractions while taking a brisk walk with Nichollette Jones, her doula, to speed up Pedroza's contractions, near the home of Susan Taylor, a licensed midwife, where Pedroza plans to give birth, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S., April 7, 2020.  REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare

FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - As a first-time mother with no idea what to expect, Nancy Pedroza was convinced the hospital was the safest place to have her baby.

That conviction turned to doubt when in late March most U.S. states ordered residents to stay home and hospitals and doctors began taking new precautions to protect pregnant women and their babies against the novel coronavirus sweeping the nation.