Pregnant with COVID: Unvaccinated mother-to-be struggled for life, learns lesson
Pregnant with COVID: Unvaccinated mother to-be struggled for life, learns lesson
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about two-thirds of pregnant women have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Those who do get the novel coronavirus often experience serious complications. One unvaccinated mother tells a story of being pregnant and getting the disease simultaneously. She now hopes her story gets other pregnant women to get the vaccine.
SAN FRANCISCO - These are happy days for Sarah, Matthew, and infant Naomi Heyl. But the three of them did get off to a rough start.
"She is doing wonderfully. And we are really grateful," said the baby's mother Sarah Heyl.
When Sarah became pregnant earlier this year she and her husband made a decision. She would not get vaccinated for COVID. She had had two miscarriages and was worried, and the vaccine was still new.
"When you are pregnant you are a little more aware of what is going into your body. And what you are exposing your unborn baby to," she said.
But at about 30 weeks into the pregnancy, Sarah and Matthew both contracted COVID. Matthew had gotten vaccinated and his breakthrough COVID symptoms were mild.
For unvaccinated Sarah, COVID was like getting hit by a truck.
"I couldn't walk. I had to be in a wheelchair. I couldn't talk beyond a whisper," she said.
At the hospital, doctors were concerned about properly treating Sarah while she was still pregnant.
"COVID is scary. We don't know which moms or which babies are going to suffer more.
They decided on a C-Section. Sarah gave birth and was then quarantined in the hospital. It was 10 days before she could see and hold her baby.
"That was a tough time that I would never want another mother to experience," she said.
At the hospital, doctors were concerned about properly treating Sarah while she was still pregnant.
"COVID is scary. We don't know which moms or which babies are going to suffer more," said obstetrician Dr. Amy Riley from Sutter Health.
That is why the Heyl family from Northern California and Sutter Health are sharing this story to encourage pregnant women to get vaccinated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that only one in three pregnant women get vaccinated.
SEE ALSO: Sutter Health gives 14 pediatric patients wrong dose of COVID vaccine
Doctors say there is no risk to mother or child and most breakthrough cases are not as serious.
"It has a very safe profile. In the almost year now we have given out billions of doses around the world. This is not an untested drug," said Sutter Health Chief of Medicine Dr. William Isenberg.
"If you are looking at the risk of getting the vaccine or getting COVID, getting COVID is something that can be very devastating," said Sarah Heyl.