Concern for pregnant women is increasing due to more aggressive variants of the Covid at the same time that hospitalizations and ICU admissions increase. For this reason, gynecologists and organizations such as the WHO recommend vaccination in pregnant women to avoid serious complications.
It is also recommended by María, a 34-year-old pregnant woman who contracted Covid and had to be admitted to the ICU due to complications derived from the infection, against which she was not vaccinated.
“I was scared, I could only cry”
María began with fatigue, cough and fever and was admitted for pneumonia at the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid. Two days later, the doctors told her that the safest thing for her and her baby was to be transferred to the ICU.
Given the worsening of her health and to ensure the well-being of the mother and the baby, they decided to perform an urgent cesarean section at 31 weeks’ gestation so that their daughter Valeria would be born.
“I had a bad time, I was afraid to see that it did not improve and when they told me that they had to perform an urgent cesarean section in the 31st week of my pregnancy, I could only cry. The doctors told me that I would be in the best hands and I feel lucky to tell the story and my baby and I are doing well.
After the cesarean section, Maria was able to see Valeria for a few minutes and then she had to return to the ICU so that they could continue treating her for the infection. But fortunately the mother improved, days later she left the ICU and mother and daughter were able to meet again .
For her part, Dr. Virginia Ortega, the gynecologist who performed the cesarean section on María, stresses that “pregnancy is a risky situation for suffering from a serious covid .”
“In recent months we have been forced to terminate many pregnancies prematurely given the serious condition of the patients and instability from a respiratory point of view,” explains the doctor and warns pregnant women that it is very important that they are fully immunized to late second and third trimesters of pregnancy, which is the period of greatest risk.
The baby has had no complications
The prematurity of the girl was another added concern, but luckily it evolves favorably.
“Valeria is 31 weeks premature and the truth is that she has not had many complications. He was born quite well, in these first days he did need oxygen and still needs a tube to eat, but the evolution is being good and he has already started to gain a little weight. However, we are having cases of premature infants in lower gestational ages that, obviously, have more complications, since their prematurity is very important, even below week 28 ”, points out Noelia González, a neonatologist who cares for María’s daughter in the neonatal intermediate care unit.
Photo | Community In Babies and More | Bea, a nurse and pregnant woman, encourages other moms to get vaccinated against Covid like her, after passing the virus like a mild cold
