ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A young mother of four was hospitalized with COVID-19, and just 24 hours after leaving the hospital with her newborn, she had to be rushed back to the ER.
Kelli is only 26-years-old. She tested positive for COVID-19 before having a her new baby, and she is now re-learning how to breathe.
“She was having problems breathing and wasn’t feeling well,” said Brittany Moorman, Kelli’s best friend. “She was feeling really weak, so she went back.”
Moorman said that Kelli was rushed back to the hospital after giving birth, and was sedated and intubated.
“They moved her to the ICU, and then they had to just keep upping her oxygen to help her breath better, and eventually they had to intubate her and put her on the ventilator,” Moorman said.
Kelli would spend 21 days on a ventilator. Moorman said that Kelli chose not to get vaccinated because of her high risk pregnancy.
“I don’t know if she regrets not getting it, but I do believe she plans on getting it now,” Moorman said.
However, doctors said that the vaccine is safe for pregnant women, and COVID-19 can actually be worse for someone expecting.
“And it’s actually recommended that pregnant women become vaccinated,” said William Hartman, the Principal Investigator of the UW Health Moderna pediatric COVID-19 vaccine trial. “What we do know is like what I said, these severe disease hospitalizations and even death of the mother that can occur with COVID-19 happen more often in a pregnant woman.”
Moorman is now caring for Kelli’s kids while the mother of four is working to regain strength in rehab.
“She’s doing really well,” Moorman said. “She’s working really hard everyday to be able to come home, getting better each day too.”
Kelli should be coming home in the next week, but Moorman said that she will still need a lot of help. There is a GoFundMe to help the family with medical bills.
UPDATE: The mother we reported as hospitalized in this story has disputed the statements made by Brittany Moorman in our interview. The fundraising campaign in her benefit has been shut down
