Chicago woman urges expectant mothers to get vaccinated after being hospitalized with COVID during pregnancy
CHICAGO - A Chicago woman who was diagnosed with COVID-19 while she was pregnant has a message for expectant mothers.
Only 23-percent of pregnant women have received the coronavirus vaccine.
Kntrice Coleman says she wishes she had gotten it sooner.
At seven months pregnant, she contracted the virus.
"They literally asked my mom and my husband, if it came down to it, who do you want us to save? Do you want us to focus on Kntrice or do you want us to focus on saving the baby?" said Coleman.
Soon after getting the virus, she was hospitalized and placed on oxygen.
"I figured if everyone else around me got the immunization, then I would be protected," she said.
With the Delta variant of the coronavirus surging, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending expectant women, at all trimesters, get the vaccine.
Dr. Leena Mithal is a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern University.
"There's been some data that has shown an increased risk of pre-term birth, if you've had COVID during the pregnancy and also an increased risk of having certain placental abnormalities," said Dr. Mithal.
The virus not only affected Coleman’s placenta, but also her lung function.
"I told them to intubate me. I said I'm done, just make sure my husband and my mom take care of my son," Coleman said.
Doctors worked to save Coleman and the baby.
She got the vaccine while she was being treated.
"I wish it was something that I would have done sooner," she said.
Dr. Mithal says she and her colleagues believe it is a good idea to get the vaccine during pregnancy to decrease any risk to the mother or baby.
Luckily, Coleman’s baby was able to make a full recovery after spending time in the NICU with complications.
He is now eight-weeks-old.
Coleman says she suffers from PTSD from the experience, but doesn’t have any lasting symptoms.