A pregnant mother who was intubated moments after giving birth to her son has died of COVID-19 without ever being able to hold the newborn in her arms.
Erika Becerra, 33, died on Friday night in Detroit, Michigan, after testing positive for the virus three weeks ago; she was eight months pregnant at the time.
As her condition deteriorated doctors made the decision to induce her labor and she gave birth to her second child, son Diego Antonio Becerra on November 15.
Immediately after the birth Erika, who had no underlying conditions, was intubated meaning she never got to hold the newborn. Her son, one-year-old daughter and husband all tested negative for the virus.
Erika Becerra, pictured, died on Friday night in Detroit, Michigan, after testing positive for the virus three weeks ago at eight months pregnant with her son
As her condition deteriorated doctors made the decision to induce her labor and she gave birth to her second child, son Diego Antonio Becerra, pictured, on November 15
Her brother Michael Avilez told CBS: ‘The weekend came along and the doctor saw she wasn’t getting any better. They had to think about the baby.
‘She had a normal labor, she gave birth to her son but didn’t get to hold him because right after she gave birth, that’s when they put in the tube and then from there she just started declining.’
He told CNN: ‘She followed every rule in the book and she still ended up catching it and it’s sad. You got a lot of people who don’t understand what’s going on … they all think it’s a joke until it happens to them or one of their family members.’
Immediately after the birth Erika, who had no underlying conditions, was intubated meaning she never got to hold the newborn. Her son, one-year-old daughter and husband, pictured with Erika, all tested negative for the virus
Avilez said Erika’s extended family traveled from Los Angeles to be with her in her final days.
He added: ‘Towards the last moments, she was tearing up. I know she heard us as we prayed for her, we talked to her, we comforted her in the last moments.
‘All my sister wanted was the best for everybody and she cared about lives. She didn’t deserve to go through what she went through.’
Avilez said he is speaking out to warn others amid a surge in coronavirus cases across the United States.
A GoFundMe to raise money for the family has raised more than $60,000 as of Tuesday morning.
A GoFundMe to raise money for the family has raised more than $60,000
The current seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths in the United States has now surpassed what it was during the initial April peak – as America suffered its deadliest week since April with 15,658 deaths.
The US recorded 1,404 deaths and 192,299 new coronavirus cases yesterday, while the number of people currently hospitalized reached a record 102,148.
Deaths across the country, which have been rising rapidly since last month, are now currently averaging 2,200 per day.
During the initial peak of the virus in April, the highest seven-day rolling average was just over 2,000.
In the last week, 15,658 Americans have died from COVID-19 – making it the deadliest week in the pandemic since April.
The number of new cases has surpassed 200,000 every day in the last seven days with more than 1 million cases reported in the first week of December alone.