A Woman Battled COVID-19 Then Gave Birth On A Ventilator And Died
For some time, health researchers have asserted that being pregnant and Latina make for an extremely at-risk combination when it comes to COVID-19. Aurora Chacon Esparza is just one of many women in the United States proving this to be true.
After being diagnosed with Coronavirus back in June, Aurora struggled with the symptoms of the virus while pregnant with her third child. Her husband Juan Duran said that at the time of her diagnosis she had been coughing non-stop and struggled with breathing. On June 19, medical experts put her on a ventilator.
Aurora delivered her baby via emergency C-section while still on a ventilator.
According to a GoFundMe page set up by her family, she passed away this past Sunday. She died in the hospital.
“Aurora was 7 months pregnant, the first week of June she began to have symptoms and went to take the COVID-19 test, she came out negative but the symptoms continued. Aurora called her primary doctor and was told to stay home, that sometimes the tests are not accurate,” the page explained. “The days passed and she began to feel more ill, on Sunday, June 14th she could not take it anymore and went to the hospital where she was admitted immediately.”
It didn’t take long before Aurora’s symptoms worsened. On June 19th she was sedated and put on an incubator. “On Tuesday, June 23rd, her oxygen became very low and a c-section was required to save both of their lives. She delivered the baby while she was on the ventilator, fortunately, the c-section had no complications,” says the GoFundMe page. “My daughter was born at 30 weeks gestation but luckily she is doing very well. Aurora began to improve very slowly. However, on July 7th things took a turn to the worst. At this time the ventilator is giving her oxygen at 100%. They have given her some treatments but the doctor says that apart from that- they can’t do anything else. Since Aurora has been on the ventilator for more than seven days, the ECMO machine would do more damage than help, according to the medical providers.”
Speaking about his wife, Duran called Aurora “one of the strongest persons I’ve ever known.”
Duran described his wife as a 35-year-old “healthy woman with no pre-existing conditions.” “We never thought this could happen to our family.” Duran said of his wife in an interview with FOX6 Now. He went on to share that when Aurora’s doctor called him to say that she needed to have an emergency C-section to save her and their baby’s life he was optimistic. “I was thinking ‘okay she’s going to get through this, a few days at the hospital.’ But when I received that phone call it just hit me,” Duran said.
Aurora’s daughter, named Andrea, was delivered a ten-weeks premature. Fortunately, she is a healthy baby.
As of this publication, Andrea is in the NICU “but is continuing to grow and get stronger.” “She’s four pounds, two ounces now and her heart is doing great,” Duran explained. “She can breathe by herself. She eats, she smiles, she cries.”
