Unvaccinated San Francisco mother loses unborn baby after getting infected with COVID-19
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The quotes in this article from Nancy Mejia and Mario de Paz are translated from Spanish.
An unvaccinated San Francisco mother lost her unborn baby after getting sick with COVID-19 this month, and now they need help.
Nancy Mejia should be soothing her newborn's cries, instead she's wiping her own tears and planning a funeral.
"To leave your baby at the hospital, it's very, very sad. I have memories of feeling my baby when she would move in me," said Mejia.
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Last week, Mejia arrived at San Francisco General Hospital and found out her baby girl had died. Two days later at 8 months pregnant, she gave birth to her stillborn daughter, Sara Ximena.
"The truth is I feel guilty about what happened," said Mejia's husband, Mario de Paz, who got sick with COVID-19 at the beginning of August.
de Paz ended up in the hospital but thought his initial symptoms were side effects from his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which he got around the same time. So he went home to his wife and three-year-old son, who both got very sick.
"If I could go back in time, I would have gotten vaccinated sooner," said de Paz.
The CDC has urged pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine. But, like 75% of pregnant women in the U.S., Mejia was unvaccinated. After she lost the baby, she got her first shot.
RELATED: COVID antibodies detected in newborns, breast milk after moms are vaccinated
Mejia said her baby was extremely healthy before she contracted COVID and went to all her prenatal appointments.
In order to determine the baby's cause of death, doctor's told Nancy an autopsy would be needed. But Mejia feels like it was her COVID infection. "Everything was fine until I got a fever, cough, and chills."
She has some advice to pregnant women: "To the mothers who are not vaccinated, get the vaccine."
de Paz still has some COVID symptoms and has been unable to work at his restaurant job all month. They've organized a GoFundMe to pay for their daughter's burial.
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