Clawdy and Maggiemaybe it’s not in any official guidance from the government but it’s the advice midwives are giving to pregnant women and new mothers. I’ve just had my second child and was asked several times by the midwives, both community and in the hospital, if I was planning to keep the baby isolated from visitors for 12 weeks and had I already informed family of this. They were really concerned about it, my midwife said it was due to the risks of the baby developing pneumonia or sepsis if they got the virus.
OP, I agree with the idea of sending meals or deliveries. You could also try and Skype the three year old during times she is preparing meals or feeding the baby, to try to distract them for a while? Maybe send the toddler a gift, or a few little things occasionally to give them a new distraction. Hopefully by the time the baby is born some of the restrictions will have been lifted, then your SIL could take the toddler out to parks and maybe the farm (according to the one nearest me they have plans to enable social distancing measures) to give your daughter a break. Other than that there’s not much you can do, but I promise they will cope. I have a 3 year old and a newborn born during lockdown and were coping fine. It’s actually quite nice in a way, we’ve been able to spend a lot of time just the four of us and not have to worry about us or the house being presentable for any visitors!
Our Welfare State. Is it broken?