Watch CBS News

Mother Of 6 Dies From Coronavirus Days After Giving Birth

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- A Southern California family is dealing with extraordinary loss after a mother-of-six died from coronavirus complications just days after giving birth. Thirty-seven-year-old Veronica Guevara-Giron died on Thursday shortly after testing positive for COVID-19 while she was eight months pregnant with her youngest daughter.

"She started saying that she couldn't breathe, she developed a cough that couldn't go away, so they ended up taking her to the hospital," her sister-in-law Nathalia Giron told CBSLA.

After fighting for more than a week, with just oxygen, doctors delivered Imani five weeks early, rushing the newborn to the NICU before her mother even got to hold her.

A day later, Guevara-Giron was placed on a ventilator and never got taken off. "They called her husband and said she wasn't getting any better, that he could come see her," Giron said.

With no underlying conditions other than pregnancy, this family wants to make it clear how dangerous this virus can be. "Her number one thing was to just be safe," Giron said.

With an infant in the hospital and five more kids at home, this family has started a GoFundMe page to help the family and Guevara-Giron's husband, who is a sanitation worker for the city.

"We're trying to see if their dad can stay home a little longer," Giron said.

Although this family will get through this somehow, they will never get back what was taken. "We can give all the love and support a family can give, but we're never going to amount to the mother she was," Giron said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.