A NEW mum died of coronavirus before she could even hold her baby for the first time as she was put in a coma after giving birth.
Sarah Scully, 35, contracted Covid-19 while heavily pregnant in April.
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After she gave birth she was only able to see a photo of her son that a nurse took for her.
Sarah’s condition rapidly deteriorated and she died after spending a month in a coma.
Heartbroken mum Elizabeth said: “She didn’t get to meet her baby and hug him.
“We were really close, she always asked my advice, we were like best friends.
“She was loyal, honest, caring, just a lovely daughter and mum. Now all that is gone.”
Sarah’s funeral took place last Wednesday and was attended by a small number of people including her work colleagues at Boots in West Brom.
Joy, the makeup specialist’s aunt, said: “She was a lovely, shy girl, she always looked immaculate, she loved hair and beauty and really enjoyed her job. She was really kind.”
Sarah fell ill in early April and after visiting her midwife she was reassured her symptoms were all common complaints for mums-to-be close to birth.
Elizabeth and her mum both took a coronavirus tests and were told their results would take up to five days.
In that time, Sarah became increasingly unwell and was admitted to Birmingham Women’s Hospital alone.
Sarah underwent an emergency caesarean and her baby boy was safely delivered on Easter Sunday morning.
She told her aunt she was immediately separated from her son after birth, but maternity staff had taken a picture which they shared with her.
Sarah was then transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she was put into an induced coma.
Her kidneys failed and she developed septicaemia and encephalitis – and inflammation of the brain as the virus developed.
Her mum was allowed to visit and see her daughter, and was with her when her ventilator was switched off on May 12 – exactly a month after her baby was born.
Joy told the heartbreaking story at a virtual hearing set up by a regional taskforce investigating the unequal impact of the virus on BAME people.
Birmingham Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne told Joy: “Your family has been hit by an earthquake…we have to try to make sure this terrible, terrible twist of fate does not cascade down the generations and cost us more pain in the children left behind.”
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