Pregnant mum dies of Covid without getting chance to meet her newborn baby

A pregnant mum died just weeks after contracting Covid-19 - without ever getting to see her newborn daughter.

Saiqa Parveen, from Ward End in Birmingham, died after testing positive for the virus in September, when she was eight months pregnant.

When her condition deteriorated, doctors at Good Hope Hospital placed the 37-year-old on a ventilator and delivered her baby, Dua Maryam, at full term.

The mum-of-five - who had not had the Covid vaccine - died on Monday November 1 without ever seeing or holding Dua.

She also leaves behind her husband Majid Ghafur, 40, and daughters Noor, aged 12, 11-year-old Imaan, Hibbah, eight and six-year-old Ayesha.

'Get up Mummy, we are waiting, we are missing you, we love you, why are you leaving us behind, just get up.' - Daughter's heartbreaking plea for Saiqa to wake up 

Her brother Qayoum Mughal, 54, said his sister was offered the Covid jab in the summer, but had decided to wait until after the baby was born.

In her last hours, her daughters had made a heartbreaking final video call to her hospital bed.

Mr Mughal, from Ward End, said: "One hour before she died her daughters facetimed her and said 'get up Mummy, we are waiting, we are missing you, we love you, why are you leaving us behind, just get up'."

"They were praying and in tears."

Mr Mughal said prior to catching coronavirus Mrs Parveen, who had no underlying conditions, was "fine" and "doing her daily household work."

How Saiqa Parveen’s condition deteriorated, according to her brother: 

• On September 16, she developed breathing problems and was taken by ambulance to Heartlands Hospital. Mr Mughal said: "They treated her with oxygen and she remained there until the morning of September 22. They told her she was clear of Covid and she went home.

• In the evening of September 22, she had "problems coughing and they called an ambulance and she was taken back to Heartlands Hospital"

• "At 6am on September 23, she called us and she then went back home again. She slept a lot."

• "On September 24, she was at home all day but in the evening had problems breathing. Her husband called an ambulance and she was taken to Good Hope Hospital."

• "She was on oxygen and on September 25th, she called my wife at 11pm and said she had signed documents saying that if her condition worsened, the doctors could operate to take the baby out. My wife said she sounded very tired and only spoke for a few minutes. That was the last conversation with any of us."

• "The next morning, her husband phoned us and told us that she was on a ventilator and they were preparing to operate. At 2pm, the doctor called her husband and told him they had delivered a baby girl. We did not see her because she was on a ventilator in intensive care, she never saw her daughter."

'There was one long tear coming from her eye - that was the first and last reaction we had from her while she was on the ventilator,' Saiqa's brother says

By now Ms Parveen also had sepsis and a hole in both her lungs, as well as double pneumonia and multiple other infections.

Her brother said: "They were treating her with antibiotics and every time we called, they said she was getting a lot of oxygen but they never said she was OK.

"They allowed her husband to see her on October 21 and the doctor said she was very ill.

"The doctor was telling him to talk to her because she was sedated but could hear.

"He was talking to her, telling her that her eldest daughter is asking you to get up and 'where is her birthday gift' and she is missing mum.

"As soon as he said this, there was one long tear coming from her eye. That was the first and last reaction we had from her while she was on the ventilator."

'When's mummy coming back', Saiqa's daughters asked

On the morning of November 1, the family was informed her condition was 'very bad' and she died just before 10pm.

Mr Mughal said her entire family is missing the much-loved mum tremendously and the community is grieving.

He said: "Her daughters ask, 'When's mummy coming back'?

"Parveen was the most caring person, she couldn't live without her family. She was a lady of principle.

"She cared for everybody and her mother is still alive.

"Everyone was praying for her. She was very hard working and a helpful lady."

He added: "Her husband is crying but he's got to be strong for his daughters."

Councillor Majid Mahmood, a close family friend, said: "It is a devastating loss for the family and difficult for anyone to imagine the pain that they must be going through.

"It is heartbreaking that Saiqa never got to see her newborn baby and wasn’t even aware that the baby was delivered."

He added: "I would urge everyone who is offered the vaccine to take it up.

"My thoughts and prayers are with Saiqa’s family.

"May Allah SWT grant Saiqa the highest place in paradise. Ameen."