Three-day old baby boy dies in hospital after his mother caught coronavirus before birth, inquest hears
- Three-day-old Coolio Carl Justin Morgan died after mother contracted Covid-19
- He was born at Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend with a low heart rate
- Inquest heard today his mother tested positive for coronavirus before birth
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
A three-day-old baby died in hospital after his mother contracted coronavirus, an inquest heard today.
Coolio Carl Justin Morgan’s mother tested positive for Covid-19 before she gave birth.
The baby was born in the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, South Wales, with a low heart rate.
The inquest at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court heard he was transferred to Singleton hospital in Swansea but died later.
The primary cause of death was listed as severe hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, meaning the brain is starved of blood and oxygen, the BBC reports.
Maternal Covid-19 was listed as a secondary cause.
Coolio was born in the Princess of Wales Hospital (pictured) in Bridgend, South Wales, with a low heart rate
Coroner Graeme Hughes heard Coolio, whose family live in nearby Maesteg, died on May 5 when he was three days old.
Senior coroner’s officer Lauren Howitt told the hearing ‘the mother was found to be Covid-19 positive soon after delivery’.
No post-mortem examination was carried out and the coroner asked his officers to investigate the circumstances of the death ahead of the next hearing.
He said: ‘I pass on my condolences to the family in these most sad and depressing circumstances.’
A full hearing will be held in April next year.
It comes just days after a six-week old baby died of Covid-19, becoming the UK’s youngest victim. NHS England said the infant died on May 3.
Figures earlier this week from an Oxford University study showed five pregnant women have died with Covid-19.
Prof Marian Knight said the fate of the babies carried by the five women is unknown.
The Oxford University study found 427 mothers-to-be were admitted to NHS hospitals with the life-threatening disease between March 1 and April 14.
But their analysis does suggest expectant mothers are at no greater risk of severe Covid-19 than any other women.
The research also looked at the babies of the mothers with COVID-19, finding one in four babies were born early.
Five of the babies in the study died, but three of those were ‘definitely unrelated’ to the coronavirus, the scientists said, while it remained unclear whether the virus contributed to the other two deaths.
There is no evidence to suggest pregnant women are more likely to catch to the coronavirus than the general population.
Although the number of people dying in care homes has remained lower than hospital deaths so far, residents are making up a larger proportion of the fatalities being reported each week, from just five per cent of the total at the start of April to 40 per cent at the end of the month
However, due to changes to the immune system, it’s been speculated pregnant women may be more vulnerable to severe infection.
The Government has, therefore, told all pregnant women to be extra stringent in practicing social distancing.
The study is believed to be the first large-scale study looking at pregnancy and its links with COVID-19.
Oxford researchers conducted it alongside the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Patient data for the study was collected from all 194 hospitals in the UK with a consultant-led maternity unit.