Mexican mother of twins forced to battle Covid-19 late in pregnancy

By Sergio Adrian Angeles

Queretaro City, Mexico, Nov 26 (efe-epa).- A Mexican woman who recently gave birth to twin girls faced complications and an acute case of Covid-19 late in her pregnancy.

But she was able to fight off the disease and now is celebrating the lives of daughters Maria Luz and Maria Jose, who are in good health despite being born prematurely.

“I arrived at the hospital in bad shape … and they had to remove them … Because if they didn’t, all three of us were going to die,” Carolina told Efe.

She had been rushed to Regional General Hospital No. 2 in El Marques, a city in the central state of Queretaro, with respiratory problems.

After she tested positive for Covid-19, strict protocols needed to be followed during her stay.

The medical staff faced the challenge of saving the life of the pregnant woman and her two babies, according to Dr. Karina Sanchez, who was in charge of their treatment from the time Carolina arrived at the hospital until the twins were taken out of intensive care.

“She was a pregnant mother with a positive Covid test. The delivery was moved up. It was a premature, 33-week twin pregnancy,” she recalled.

Because the lives of the mother and her two babies were at risk, a decision was made to perform a premature Caesarian section. Carolina, concerned at all times about her daughters’ wellbeing, was in agreement.

Her treatment posed a significant medical challenge since a twin pregnancy affects the bodily function most vulnerable to attack by the coronavirus: a patient’s lung capacity.

Dr. Luis Manuel Noriega, gynecology and obstetrics coordinator at the Regional General Hospital in El Marques, said the respiratory complications typically associated with a twin pregnancy were exacerbated in this case.

“In an obstetric patient, there are certain limitations on the respiratory process due to the increased size of the abdomen. There’s a structural limitation in ventilatory capacity. And if there’s the additional (factor) of twins, the ventilatory capacity is reduced even a bit more,” he said.

But the 42-year-old native of the city of San Juan del Rio made a successful recovery after being hospitalized for two months and spending 40 days in isolation.

The experience, however, gave Carolina much cause for reflection about Covid-19 and her beliefs.

“People don’t even know what this is like. They don’t know what it’s like or anything. Everyone thinks it’s all death, death, death. But sometimes with God’s help you get through it,” she said with emotion in her voice.

Carolina had to complete her quarantine period following the C-section and therefore had to wait to be with her newborn daughters. Now that she no longer has Covid-19, she is making up for that lost time and devoting all her maternal attention to them.

Since the start of the pandemic, Mexico has tallied 1,070,487 coronavirus cases and has the fourth-highest number of Covid-19 deaths (103,597) behind only the United States, Brazil and India. EFE-EPA

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