"Without Covid, I definitely think Ivy-Rose would still be here."
A premature baby born in the UK to a woman who contracted Covid-19 in late pregnancy has died at 9 days old, according to reports.
Katie Leeming, 22, tested positive for the virus whilst heavily pregnant last month after suffering cold-like symptoms.
Within a week, she stopped feeling movement and contacted her local hospital.
Her daughter, Ivy-Rose, was delivered by emergency C-section on October 13 – making her 14 weeks premature.
Little Ivy-Rose weighed just 2lb 3oz at birth and suffered a range of complications, including a pulmonary haemorrhage and a brain haemorrhage.
The newborn tested positive for Covid-19 at about five days old, sadly passing away four days later.
“We got a phone call on the evening of day eight saying we needed to get to the hospital as they didn’t think Ivy-Rose was going to make it through the night,” Leeming
told iNews.
“They took her hand and footprints for her memory box and Ivy-Rose died on 22 October at 1.30am. We were absolutely heartbroken and it still hasn’t sunk in,” she said.
The causes of death were listed as extreme prematurity at 26 weeks, severe respiratory distress syndrome, maternal Covid positive and baby Covid positive, as well as intraventricular haemorrhage.
“If I hadn’t had Covid and had such a high temperature and become poorly, I honestly don’t think Ivy-Rose would have been born as prematurely as until then, the pregnancy was going smoothly,” Leeming continued.
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“People make out it is very rare for babies to catch Covid and that children and babies are not really affected by coronavirus.
“But our baby girl tested positive for Covid-19 and deteriorated and became more and more poorly before dying at just nine-days-old.
“We are all completely devastated and it is a struggle trying to arrange a funeral for such a tiny baby. Without Covid, I definitely think Ivy-Rose would still be here.”
Leeming had not been vaccinated against the virus as she felt “there wasn’t enough research done into the impact of the vaccine during pregnancy and if it would affect the baby.”
During such a grief-stricken time, she doesn't want to tear herself apart by thinking about what might have been if she had been vaccinated.
“I can’t start thinking that way as who knows what might have happened if I had the vaccine and I might still have got Covid and become ill,” she said.
The UK's NHS advises pregnant people to get vaccinated with either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna jab as “they’ve been more widely used during pregnancy in other countries and have not caused any safety issues.”
On home soil, a new report has confirmed none of the
pregnant women admitted to ICU with Covid-19 were fully vaccinated. Just one was partially vaccinated.
