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Texas mom dies from COVID-19 complications just days after giving birth
Since the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, an alarming number of pregnant people are not getting vaccinated. At the beginning of the vaccine rollout, there weren’t enough pregnant people in the vaccine trials, but now, the data overwhelming states that it is absolutely safe for pregnant folk to get the COVID-19 vaccine and yet, many expecting parents are still holding out and they’re contracting COVID-19. One tragic story out of Texas is serving as a cautionary tale as an unvaccinated pregnant woman died from COVID-19 just days after delivering her second child.
CNN reports that Texas mom and school administrator Paige Ruiz tested positive for COVID-19 when she was nine months pregnant.
Paige died from COVID-19 complications on August 15, 2021 just says after giving birth to her second daughter, Celeste, who she delivered by emergency C-section. Paige’s mother Robin Zinsou says her daughter never even got to meet Celeste (except over FaceTime) as they immediately separated new mom and child, for fear of the baby getting COVID. The only upside in this sad story is that baby Celeste did not contract COVID-19.
Her mother urged her to get a Covid-19 vaccine, but the 32-year-old educator was afraid it might harm her unborn child.
She died just days after her second daughter was born. https://t.co/HfHfM9hrnQ
— CNN (@CNN) August 24, 2021
Robin says her daughter didn’t get vaccinated because she believed “there wasn’t enough information or data out there to say that she could confidently get vaccinated without harming the baby.”
The truth is that OBGYNs have been advising their pregnant patients get the COVID-19 vaccine since it has been available as the risks of contracting COVID-19 while pregnant far outweigh any potential risk from the vaccine.
Additionally, earlier this month, the CDC doubled down on their messaging regarding the vaccine and pregnant folks and said that the “CDC recommends that pregnant people should be vaccinated against COVID-19, based on new evidence about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines.” Not only are COVID-19 vaccines safe for pregnant people, but the CDC adds that “pregnant and recently pregnant people are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 when compared with non-pregnant people.”
But wait, there’s more! The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) want pregnant people to get the jab, too. “ACOG is recommending the vaccination of pregnant individuals because we have evidence of the safe and effective use of the vaccine during pregnancy from many tens of thousands of reporting individuals because we know that COVID-19 infection puts pregnant people at increased risk of severe complications, and because it is clear from the current vaccination rates that people need to feel confident in the safety and protective value of the COVID-19 vaccines,” ACOG president Dr. J. Martin Tucker said in a statement (via Today).
https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1428403452091281412
Unfortunately, for Paige, this information didn’t get to her quickly enough.
Her mom says that in her final days, Paige texted her family and friends that she wished she had gotten vaccinated while she was pregnant.
Her sister is now sharing that message on the family’s GoFundMe to raise money for Paige’s husband.
“One of Paige’s last wishes was that everyone, from all walks of life, get vaccinated against covid to help prevent more tragedy. Covid has done enough damage to all of us. Please consider getting vaccinated to help protect yourself and your loved ones and to honor the memory of my sister,” Paige’s sister shared in a GoFundMe.
Read more here: https://t.co/28mCV1HGYX
— Megan Cardona (@megancardona_) August 23, 2021
If you are still debating, the CDC listed out all the studies and real-real data, to date, proving that it is okay to be pregnant and get the vaccine. Since rolling out the vaccine in December 2020, the evidence for the vaccine is robust and the excuse that there “just isn’t enough data about pregnant people” isn’t holding its weight anymore. There was also a lot of misinformation about the vaccine and miscarrying and officials state with data to back it up that miscarriage rates after the vaccine was similar to the expected rate of miscarriage in any group of pregnant people. There is no evidence that the vaccine causes a person to miscarry.
Paige’s tragic story doesn’t have to be in vain. If you’re pregnant and interested in getting vaccinated, you can you can find out how to do so, here.
