Wering face masks policies will change when we get fully vacinated

Women have told us that wearing a mask has added an extra layer of stress for them.

"This is avoidable, but it's clear there is some confusion because the guidance is not being followed in every case."

Natalie Titherington, from Oldham, says she wasn't aware of the guidance when her baby girl was born last December.

She says her labour was the most terrifying experience of her life.

"I was gasping for air. I felt completely suffocated.

"I'm never going to be able to forget the feeling of not being able to breathe, and the fear and panic I felt while wearing a mask."

Natalie says she was made to wear a mask while having regular and very painful contractions.

"Someone put the mask on me. I said 'you can't be serious', and she replied 'yes', and then I remember having a contraction.

"My body was already in a state of distress, and I tried to remove the mask at one point, but I was told I had to put it back on."

Natalie ended up having an emergency Caesarean section and was told to continue wearing the mask during the surgery.

She hasn't been able to wear any kind of facial covering since giving birth, because it triggers the memory of "struggling to breathe" which she experienced during her labour.

''That feeling of suffocation and panic is something that still stays with me. It is something that flashes back as the worst fear I have been through."

The new guidance was announced today at the White House. It will still call for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, but could ease restrictions for reopening workplaces and schools.

The CDC will also no longer recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks outdoors in crowds.