Despite higher covid risk, most pregnant Americans remain unvaccinated

Enlarge this image

Scott Baisley holds his son Sullivan, who was delivered shortly before his mother died of COVID-19.

Victoria Hansen/South Carolina Public Radio

hide caption

toggle caption

Victoria Hansen/South Carolina Public Radio

Enlarge this image

Kimberly and Tory Grice’s daughter Leilani was born healthy after her mother was hospitalized for COVID.

Victoria Hansen/South Carolina Public Radio

hide caption

toggle caption

Victoria Hansen/South Carolina Public Radio

Kimberly and Tory Grice’s daughter Leilani was born healthy after her mother was hospitalized for COVID.

Victoria Hansen/South Carolina Public Radio

«The risk of putting your life at risk, your unborn child’s life at risk, is not worth it,» says Dr. Rebecca Wineland. She is the director of labor and delivery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Wineland says expecting mothers infected with the fast spreading Delta variant are at a greater risk for stillbirths, babies with restricted growth and pre-eclampsia, a leading cause of maternal and infant death worldwide.

She is also seeing first-hand what the CDC warns, expecting mothers who get COVID are twice as likely to be admitted to the ICU and have a 70% increased risk of losing their lives.

«It will absolutely save your life and decrease your risk of hospitalization if you were to get COVID,» Wineland says.

But the message came too late for Scott Baisley and his two-month-old son Sullivan who live just outside Charleston.

Scott cradles the crying infant trying to comfort him. An empty bottle sits next to a framed ultrasound picture and wedding photo displayed on a table beside them.

Scott’s wife Clair was 33 years old when she collapsed on the floor of their home in August, within days of being diagnosed with COVID. She was quickly hospitalized with double pneumonia.

A week later, doctors decided they had to deliver Sullivan by C-section. Clair was put on a ventilator and given a 10% chance to live. Less than a month after her diagnosis, doctors were desperately trying to save her.

«But that was it. I watched her numbers drop. I watched her blood oxygen continue to go down. I watched her heart rate increase,» Scott says.

Suddenly Clair was gone. COVID had taken her life. She never got to hold Sullivan.

«Having a son without a mother is one of the most painful things I’ve ever had to experience.»

It’s a pain Scott doesn’t want anyone else to have to endure.

• COVID
• COVID-19
• coronavirus
• pregnancy