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Unvaxxed mom issues warning after birth in COVID-19 coma hell

"I wouldn’t want any other family going through what we have - the truth of the matter is that we could have both died."

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Chelsie King, her husband Patrick and son Raphael (Chelsie King via SWNS)

By Charlotte Penketh-King via SWNS

A new mom has urged pregnant women to get vaccinated after she was forced to give birth in a medically-induced coma thanks to contracting COVID-19 without having the jab.

Chelsie King, 27, was placed into a medically-induced coma at six months pregnant after contracting coronavirus without receiving any vaccinations.

Chelsie fell pregnant in January 2020 and decided not to get vaccinated as the effects of the jab on pregnant women were not yet known.

Her son Raphael was born via C-section on July 14 whilst Chelsie remained in a coma for another five weeks as her body battled the virus.

She didn't meet her firstborn son until he was six weeks old and the new mom is now urging pregnant women to get vaccinated when possible.

Chelsie King couldn't meet her baby Raphael until he wassix weeks old. (Via SWNS)

Chelsie, who lives in Somerset, England with Raphael and her husband Patrick, 32, said: "I do regret not having the jab when it was offered and wonder if I did have it, whether things would have been different.

"I wouldn’t want any other family going through what we have - the truth of the matter is that we could have both died."

She added: "It’s important to get the message out to moms to-be to make sure they get vaccinated. The risks of not being jabbed are far more than having the vaccination itself.

"I am one of the lucky ones. I got to cuddle my baby. But there are some mothers who will never have that joy. All because they didn’t have a simple vaccine."

Chelsea suffered with sickness throughout her pregnancy but with no cough or loss of taste or smell, she did not consider the idea that she could have COVID-19.

Raphael was just2lb 4oz at birth. He now weighs 12lbs (Via SWNS)

However, her nausea became alarmingly worse in July 2020 and her medical team advised she take a PCR test after three days of not even being able to keep water down.

Her test came back positive and Chelsie was taken to St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol after her temperature soared and she became breathless.

She said: "They told me that it was becoming more evident that continuing sickness in pregnant women was a symptom of covid.

"I hadn’t eaten in a week, we were so worried about the baby. My oxygen levels were dropping rapidly.

"Thankfully the baby was ok but I was very poorly and I got transferred straight to the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI)."

Chelsie's husband Patrick received a call from her ward to say they needed to induce her, he was not able to visit the hospital because he had contracted COVID-19 too.

After many weeks of suffering the family have finally been united (Via SWNS)

Chelsie was placed into a coma and onto a ventilator after her oxygen levels dropped dangerously low and her son Raphael was born via C-section.

Born three months early, the baby boy weighed just 2lb 4oz and was transferred immediately to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit ( NICU) at St Michael's Hospital.

Doctors tried to wake Chelsie up for five whole weeks but her body kept picking up infections.

She underwent an intensive life support treatment called Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation at the BRI where her blood was taken out and re-oxygenated before being pumped back into her body.

The new mom was then transferred by ambulance to St Thomas’s Hospital in London where she remained for 21 days, waking up after 15 days of the lifesaving treatment.

She was given a whiteboard to communicate with her family before she was transferred back to the ITU at the BRI in Bristol.

She said: "The last thing I can remember from before the coma was watching the Euro football finals on my phone from my ITU bed.

"When I woke up I knew I was in London because the medical team had been telling me while I was in the coma.

"But no one told me how long I had been there and how long it was since I had Raphael.

"On the first call with my grandma and grandad and Patrick they told me Raphael was five weeks old. I was so shocked.

"He was six weeks old when I first got to hold him. They placed him on my chest. It was so wonderful to be able to see him and smell him for the first time."

Chelsie was discharged from the hospital on September 9 with little Raphael coming home five days later.

Despite having to undergo physiotherapy to learn how to walk again, Chelsie incredibly managed to train to take part in a 5k walk at the end of October, raising more than £1,000 ($1,300) for the NICU.

With Raphael now weighing 12lb, the family are looking forward to their first Christmas together and Chelsie is urging pregnant women to get vaccinated after receiving her first dose.

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