Heartbreak: Pregnant mother dies of COVID-19, but doctors save her baby

A pregnant woman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, died from COVID-19 on Thursday, but doctors were able to safely deliver her baby.

Allie Guidry, 29, was hospitalized in May and placed on a ventilator. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was not due to give birth until October, according to Fox5DC. However, after her condition did not improve, doctors delivered her baby girl by emergency C-section at just 25 weeks gestation. Baby Madeline weighed only two pounds and is in the neonatal intensive care unit at Woman’s Hospital in stable condition but with a long road ahead of her.

“We’d like people to know to take this virus seriously,” said Michael Conish, Guidry’s fiance. “But do not stop living your life — be cautious, be careful. It’s no joke.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that pregnant women are at greater risk of developing complications from COVID-19 and needing to be hospitalized. A study found that pregnant women are 5.4 times more likely to be hospitalized for coronavirus than non-pregnant women, 1.5 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care, and 1.7 times more likely to need to be put on a ventilator. However, the risk of death from COVID-19 did not appear to be greater for pregnant women.

READ: Thanks to determined doctors, mom with COVID-19 gave birth to healthy son while in medically-induced coma

Of the reported 326,335 American women ages 15-44 who have tested positive for the virus, CDC data on pregnancy were only available for 91,412 women, and of those, 8,207 were pregnant. Women who have tested positive have had to separate themselves from their newborns for weeks after giving birth in order to protect their babies from COVID-19. Other women have awakened from medically-induced comas to learn they had given birth.

Though extremely premature, babies born at 25 weeks gestation have a 75% chance of surviving if given proper medical care. A GoFundMe account has been established to help Conish cover both Guidry’s and Madeline’s medical bills as well as to help pay for Guidry’s funeral.

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