Are you about to have a second, third, or-so-on baby? If you're delivering at a hospital in Maryland, chances are that your new bundle's older siblings won't be able to visit you and the newborn in the hospital.

As Kelly Brewington and Meredith Cohn report today, it's because of swine flu. (Isn't everything?) Hospitals want to protect their patients and the public at large, and even children who appear healthy are known spreaders of flu.

On the other side of things are moms like Kimberly Franklin, shown in the picture on the left, who would love for her 3-year-old to be by her side right after she has a scheduled C-section at St. Joseph Medical Center next week to welcome his new brother.

I would have been very sad if my daughter, then 2, hadn't been allowed into my room to see her new brother the day after he was born. I still remember how she charged into the room, newly confident in her role as big sister, and proclaimed: "I wanna pick him up."

Then again, I wouldn't have wanted to expose a vulnerable new baby to the flu.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)