In mid-April, 28-year-old Disha Kumar (name changed on request) delivered a healthy baby girl at Wockhardt Hospital in Mira Road. Weighing almost 3 kg, the newborn was taken into care after a cesarean procedure. But, all was not well with the mother, who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and was fighting for her life in the ICU ward. “Her fever was persistent. We tried to stabilise her oxygen levels before doing the delivery, but her SpO2 continued to drop thereafter. Despite giving her 100 per cent oxygen and doing a tracheostomy, her SpO2 remained below 84,” recalls Dr Mangala Patil, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road. A few days later, she succumbed to the infection.

Death due to COVID-19 among pregnant women is no longer a rarity in the second wave of the pandemic. The medical community has raised concerns over these women appearing to be at an increased risk of severe symptoms, complications and in some cases, even death this year.