A young mum who gave birth while in a coma after contracting Covid has finally been allowed to go home – after spending nearly three months in intensive care.
Saskia Lane, 21, from Partridge Green, West Sussex, tested positive for Covid on August 27 while eight months pregnant.
Suffering breathing difficulties, Saskia was rushed to intensive care at her local hospital where staff worked to ensure she and baby were safe.
She was sent for an emergency c-section on September 4, but doctors decided to keep her under anaesthetic afterwards to let her body recover.
Saskia wasn’t woken up following the birth of her daughter, Betsy Mae Blackman, who is now three-months-old, with doctors believing the induced coma would give her the best chance of survival.
After three weeks the mum was woken up, and met her new daughter for the first time on September 30 after her partner Lee Blackman, 23, brought in Betsy for the first time.
Remarkably, Saskia was able to go home in early November to her partner and two children – Betsy and Eliza, two – and is able to spend Christmas at home with her family.
Saskia explained: ‘Seeing Betsy for the first time was like giving birth all over again, but this time I was awake – and there was an overwhelming sense of achievement.’
Although she was still ill when Lee brought Betsy to the hospital for the first time, Saskia said seeing her baby was all that mattered.
She said: ‘I was in so much pain – unable to speak, still ventilated, but none of that mattered during that special moment.
‘I remember not wanting to ever let go; it was the hardest goodbye seeing them leaving the hospital and all I wanted was to go back with them and start our journey as a family of four.’
Having not seen the outside world for months, Saskia was nervous to go home, and says she ‘began giving up hope’ that she’d be able to do so as the days dragged on.
However, she settled back in without a bother, saying: ‘Once I arrived home, it was like I had never left and just sitting on my sofa being able to hold and feed my baby was how it should have been from the beginning.
‘Our tree is up and we are getting into the Christmas spirit and this year, it feels even more special to me and my family because at one point, they thought I wouldn’t be here to be able to celebrate it.’
She added: ‘I was scared to come home; I kept questioning the nurses because I wasn’t sure it was 100% safe.
‘As much as I wanted to go home, I was so anxious about something going wrong again and I had completely lost my independence.
‘I felt so proud of myself that I had made it home and once I was there, all those worries went away.’
Saskia says she still had ‘good days and bad days’, as long Covid has affected her lung capacity. She’s now focusing on regaining her independence and enjoying time with her little ones.
She said: ‘This whole experience has impacted me both physically and mentally but I try my best to focus on the positives that I’m alive and hopefully have the rest of my life enjoying my amazing children.
‘I’m having therapy to help me recover mentally from this trauma and do have regular hospital appointments to monitor my recovery and lung changes.
‘But I try my best to think it could have turned out a lot worse, two young children could have lost their mummy and I’m just glad they will never remember that time in their lives.’
Saskia also hopes that her experience can inspire other expectant parents to get vaccinated. She said: ‘I feel it’s so important to share my story to pregnant women as I was unsure about the vaccination during my pregnancy but I wish I had it done before it was too late.
‘As a mum, all you want to do is protect your children and the misinformation out there can really scare you off getting the vaccine but it is safe.
‘More and more unvaccinated pregnant women are ending up in a coma or even sadly losing their lives due to Covid so please talk to a doctor or midwife to get the correct information about the vaccination rather than being brainwashed by social media posts.
‘Our NHS is so incredible; the ECMO machine alongside the hard work of all the consultants and nurses saved my life and I will forever be grateful for giving me the chance to carry on doing my favourite job in the world, being a mum.’
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