Mother Dies Of COVID-19 Complications After Giving Birth, Family Urges Pregnant Women To Get Vaccinated

A 37-year-old mother of five children died of COVID-19 complications in England, following which her family has urged pregnant women to get vaccinated against the deadly virus.

The woman has been identified as Saiqa Parveen from Birmingham. Parveen's family said she had put off getting the jab until her child was born. However, she contracted the virus before giving birth, and died before she could even hold her newborn daughter, who was delivered via emergency cesarean section.

The woman's brother, Qayoum Mughal, said the family had "lost everything... If she had the vaccine she might have had a chance of surviving," according to BBC.

The woman tested positive for coronavirus when she was eight months pregnant with her fifth child. She was taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties in September, and, after being treated with oxygen, was put on a ventilator. Doctors at the hospital then decided to deliver her child.

The woman's husband Majid Ghafur is now caring for their five daughters, Noor, 13; Imaan, 11; Hibbah, eight; Ayesha, seven and newborn Dua Maryam.

“She didn’t even know if she’d had a baby girl or a boy. It was just shocking. She didn’t have a chance to talk to me, five minutes even, to tell me about the daughters, you know, what to do," Ghafur told Sky News. "She was a very great person, my wife. Since [she was] in hospital, every night I've been praying. She was battling with this deadliest disease. Finally, she couldn't cope."

"I'm going to pass this message to the whole world, I just beg all people to get the vaccine, otherwise it's very hard for them," he added. "It's a very deadly disease, you know... She planned so many things. And this disease didn't give her a chance."

Covid vaccines are recommended for pregnant women by the government, the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Royal College of Midwives.

As of last week, there have been more than 9.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.K. and nearly 142,000 people have died, government figures show. So far, 87 percent of people aged 12 and over in the UK have had their first vaccine dose, while more than 79 percent have had their second and more than 17.5 percent have had a booster dose.