Living in a country led by a Chemistry PhD who lets Dr. Drosten and his colleagues do most of the talking about Covid-19, and has long had some pretty sturdy expectant mother protections in place has been about as good a pandemic experience as I can imagine having as a relatively old pregnant woman. My company medical office called my boss to order me to work from home two days after I decided I'd prefer to - unnecessary, because my boss agreed to let me as soon as I started worrying about it. The next week, we were all ordered to work from home.

I'm flabbergasted every time I see a news story from the US about a pregnant woman worried about having to keep working in a public-contact job with inadequate protection. Here right now, it's completely out of the question; if her employer can't find her a role that doesn't require public contact, she's on medical leave at most of her pay. This is usually the case for preschool workers and some medical professionals, as well as women in jobs that involve exposure to harmful chemicals or biologic agents.