Pregnant Woman Who Declined Vaccine Dies Of COVID-19 2 Months After Giving Birth

KEY POINTS

Natalie Forshaw, 30, died nearly two months after she gave birth to her son, Caleb
The mother chose not to get vaccinated prior to her death as she was still pregnant
A fundraiser for her family has raised more than $8,720

An unvaccinated 30-year-old woman in Manchester, England who tested positive for COVID-19 while she was pregnant, died over the weekend following the birth of her only child.

Natalie Forshaw died Sunday in the early hours of Boxing Day — nearly two months after she delivered her son, Caleb, via a C-section at St. Mary's Hospital at Oxford Road on Nov. 3, the Manchester Evening News reported.

Forshaw, a beautician and hairdresser from the suburb of Burnage, was forced to remain in the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. She was later transferred to the intensive care unit of Manchester Royal Infirmary.

"Her oxygen levels were very, very low. She was getting bad pains in her chest," Bernie Wilton, Forshaw's mother, said.

Forshaw was put in a drug-induced coma days after giving birth as part of her treatment. A blood clot was discovered inside her heart in mid-November, and she was left in critical condition at the end of the month after the lump broke up and went to her lungs.

The new mother's condition had worsened by Dec. 6. Forshaw's family was told that there was nothing more that could be done, but she later showed some signs of improvement.

"I was sat with her and she started to blink, she is starting to come round... and when I spoke about baby Caleb she cried... all the nurses were clapping and so happy for her... she is so looked after... she is fighting," Wilton wrote on social media at the time.

Medics were "amazed" at Forshaw's condition, and she was dubbed an "ICU celebrity" due to the number of nurses and doctors that were rooting for her.

However, Forshaw's heart failed on Dec. 20, which resulted in her being fully sedated again before her death.

Forshaw, who was described by her brother Bernie as being "absolutely wonderful," chose not to get vaccinated before her demise as she was pregnant.

It was unclear if she planned to get jabbed after giving birth to Caleb.

The child weighed 61 pounds 12 ounces and was "perfect," according to Bernie.

A fundraiser set up to help Forshaw's family, Caleb, and the child's father, Jay Hurst, raised £6,500 ($8,720) out of its initial £500 ($670) goal, as of press time.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged pregnant women to get vaccinated, for it can allegedly help protect them from severe COVID-19.

Evidence on the safety and effectiveness of vaccination during pregnancy suggested “that the benefits of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any known or potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy,” the agency said.