Parents kept from newborn twins in NICU for more than a month due to pandemic

EAGLEVILLE, Pa. (WISH) — Parents in Pennsylvania are being kept away from their newborn babies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s been about five weeks since Kendra Berry-Stankovich and her husband Michael have seen their twin girls in person.

The twins were born shortly before the virus broke out. Since then, the hospital said it wasn’t safe for the parents to see their twin daughters. And the family is hoping the separation will end soon.

“My fear is that that they have forgotten us,” said Kendra Berry-Stankovich.

Danica and Quinnlyn were born early at 31 weeks on Feb. 20. On March 13, the hospital went on full lockdown and the family was separated.

“They called us and said we couldn’t come back – the hospital has been on full lockdown,” said Kendra. “The nurses have been wonderful, they FaceTime with us when they can. They send us pictures.”

The crucial skin-to-skin contact has not been able to happen for the mother and her girls.

“I said ‘I still want to nurse can I still come in?’ and they said ‘No you are going to have to pump from home and bring it in and drop it off,’” said Kendra.

Kendra and Michael say they couldn’t have foreseen their new reality, but they want other expectant parents to be prepared, just in case.

“I feel bad for our older kids too because they haven’t been able to see the girls yet,” said Michael Stankovich.

Kendra and Michael have not been given an exact date of when their daughters will be able to come home, but they are hopeful it is now days, instead of weeks.

CNN Newsource contributed to this report.