A new mother from Florida died from the coronavirus just days after giving birth to her newborn daughter.
Kristen McMullen, 30, was forced to deliver her baby several weeks early following complications with her pregnancy after contracting the virus.
It is not known whether McMullen ever received the COVID vaccine.
Doctors became concerned after she began to have breathing problems which also saw her unborn child receiving less oxygen in the womb.
Her symptoms became so bad that doctors at the Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne had to perform an emergency C-Section to deliver her baby girl, Summer Reign.
Kristen McMullen, 30, held newborn daughter, Summer, for just a couple of photos before she was rushed to intensive care
McMullen had longed to be a mother and was hoping for a big family. She took ill with covid about five weeks before her due date and was forced to have a c-section to save her daughter
McMullen got to hold her daughter for just a few short minutes before she was rushed to the intensive care unit after her own breathing took a turn for the worse.
She was pictured giving her infant a bottle of milk in one of the few photos she had taken with her newborn child.
'She was able to hold Summer for basically just two pictures,' Melissa Syverson, McMullen's aunt, told Florida Today.
'One she had the mask on, and one she took the mask off. They took the quick pictures, she put the mask back on — and then they moved Kristen to ICU immediately after that,' she said.
It would be the first and last time she would ever hold her baby.
While in the ICU, McMullen's condition quickly worsened and she developed pneumonia.
The West Melbourne woman was unable to see her little girl in-person - only through video calls on an iPad.
She was unable to see her little girl in-person - only through video calls on an iPad, pictured above
Dad, Keith McMullen, had been caring for his sick wife while looking after their newborn girl
'She couldn't interact. But at least she could see Summer while she was being cared for and just look at her. And then her breathing just progressively got worse,'Syverson explained.
Eventually, doctors were forced to sedate her and she was placed on a ventilator. She died days later on August 6.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with medical bills and to help pay for help to look after Summer.
'Kristen dreamed of being a mom and after several years of fighting an uphill battle, her and her husband Keith, received the good news that they were expecting. This bundle of joy is the first great grandchild in the family and we couldn't have been happier for her and her little growing family,' Syverson said days before the death of her niece.
'About 3 weeks prior to her due date, Kristen started developing COVID-19 symptoms. Things progressed quickly and she ended up in the hospital with an official 'positive' test as well as confirmation of having COVID pneumonia. She was in the hospital for 4 days at this point and was sent home with antibiotics. After less than 48 hours she returned to the hospital not able to breathe and worried about her unborn baby,' Syverson explained.
Dad and husband, Keith McMullen, is pictured with his newborn daughter Summer Reign
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help raised funds to care for baby Summer Reign and pay for her mother's medical bills who sadly passed away from the coronavirus
Hours after returning to the hospital, the baby was delivered with husband and new father Keith doing double duty as he became a dad while still caring for his wife.
Days after the initial posting on the donation website, the aunt had to share the tragic news of McMullen's passing.
'She lit up the room wherever she was, her laughter was contagious and she will be truly missed every day until we all take our last breath.
'We're so thankful for the time we had with her and thank God for the blessing of her little girl that she left behind,' she wrote.
'At this point it's unclear how much money is needed to cover the insane hospital bills and to help keep Keith and baby Summer figure out how they're going to move forward through this tragedy'
'We're so thankful for the time we had with her and thank God for the blessing of her little girl that she left behind,' aunt Melissa Syverson wrote
'We really thought with her being young and full of energy and completely healthy we thought she was going to pull through,' said Syverson to ClickOrlando.
'She was giving it all to the baby and giving it all to fight this illness, and unfortunately the illness won. Absolutely terrible,' added uncle James Syverson.
'It's such a loss all the way around. Summer not having a mom, me not having a niece, Keith not having a wife,' he said.
'She never got sick, and we assumed like many people that this would just go away just as quickly as it came because with a lot of younger people — she was only 30 years old — that she would breeze through it and be back taking charge of life.'
Doctors believe McMullen was infected with the Delta variant. They recommend pregnant women get the coronavirus vaccine following an increase in COVID-19 patients who are pregnant.
'They definitely have pneumonia and are requiring oxygen,' Dr. Lori Boardman from Orlando Health's Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies said. 'If the baby doesn't look good because sometimes the heart rates will slow, we're having to deliver babies before they're supposed to be born.
'One of the biggest questions I get is 'Does it increase risk of miscarriage?' Data says no. We're not seeing a negative impact at all from receiving the vaccination,' Boardman said. 'We've seen the babies getting antibodies from their moms who get vaccinated which protects them.'
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