Inkster Mom Celebrates Baby's 1st Christmas After Being On Ventilator Battling COVID-19 While Pregnant
(CBS DETROIT)- "My husband keeps asking what do you want for Christmas, what do you want for Christmas, and I'm just like I got everything I'm here," said Nakia Hubbard - Heard of Inkster.
She says and this is nothing short of a miracle.
This past March Nakia was 23 weeks pregnant when she tested positive for COVID-19.
After being admitted to Beaumont Wayne Hospital, her condition went south, and it did so fast, she was placed on a ventilator.
"I think I was in a coma for 6 or 7 days, a week of my life I don't remember. When I woke up apparently I had been airlifted to Royal Oak Beaumont hospital I woke up with all of these alarms and bright lights and I had feeding tubes, tubes down my throat, needles in my neck and my arms," Hubbard- Heard said.
Also she was all alone, Nakia said this was terrifying, but what she learned later is her family was facing an impossible decision.
"They had to ask my husband when I was in the hospital, who do we save if it came down to it and that's an awful thing for somebody to have to make that decision," Hubbard- Heard said.
Thankfully that decision did not need to be made, and on July 8th Nakia give birth to a healthy baby boy.
"His name is Saint. Dalton Rocco Heard, Saint just simply means, one that dwells in God and we know for sure that he did," Hubbard-Heard said.
Nakia says she still has her physical challenges but says she will never take for granted this Christmas or any day after.
"I can't sing, I can't whistle, I can't yell and I get winded even reading him a books but I'm here and everyday I'm getting stronger so I'm grateful for that," said Hubbard-Heard
| Back in March, Nakia was newly eligible for the vaccine, but little data was available about its safety in pregnant women. Michigan was in the midst of its third surge. And Nakia, an occupational therapist who believes she contracted the virus from her family, was unvaccinated.
"When the vaccine first came out, there was no theoretical risk to pregnant women in any trimester," said Nakia's doctor, Karoline Puder, M.D., a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Beaumont, Royal Oak. "But it's not surprising pregnant women were afraid to try something new." Now, the scientific community has a full nine months plus of data and research to look to for validation. "We have strong evidence that there is no tendency for this vaccine to cause reproductive harm," Dr. Puder said. Similarly, there is no evidence of fertility challenges, miscarriage, birth defects or growth abnormalities. There is, however, strong evidence of increased risk to mother and baby from COVID-19, Dr. Puder said.
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