Doctors deliver miracle baby girl to unconscious mum fighting for her life with Covid at Milton Keynes Hospital

Tiny Shifa Begum was delivered six weeks early by emergency Caesarean while her critically ill mum Shamshad was unconscious.

Immediately afterwards doctors put Shamshad in an induced coma on a ventilator.

The 44-year-old remained in a coma in intensive care for almost five weeks while nurses in the hospital's neonatal unit cared for the baby, giving her all the love her mother was unable to.

"The baby had to be delivered for her own safety. She was getting dehydrated," said Shamshad's brother Mohammed, who has praised the hospital staff for their care.

Luckily little Shifa, who weighed in at just over four pounds, tested negative for Covid-19 and soon started to put on weight. After 20 days, doctors said she was strong enough to be discharged.

But it was a bittersweet moment for the family as Shamshad's life was still hanging in the balance.

"We had not been able to visit the baby, or see my sister," said Mohammed.

"The first time we saw the baby was when we went to the hospital to bring her home."

Mohammed and his wife took little Shifa home with them while the rest of the family rallied round to help Shamshad's husband care for the couple's two older daughters, who are aged nine and 11.

"We all did what we could," said Mohammed.

"We took photographs of the baby and the hospital laminated them and put them by my sister's bed, ready for when she woke up. The doctors and nurses were wonderful - we cannot praise them enough.

"Shamshad got the best care. All the doctors and nurses knew the circumstances, that she had a baby but had not seen her.

"It was a worrying time. Our local community, family and friends prayed for her recovery, hoping for the best."

Finally, on January 13, Shamshad regained consciousness and was shown photographs of Shifa. She was taken off the ventilator on January 28.

"She was still very ill but we could video call her with the baby and she could see her," said Mohammed.

Last week, two months after Shifa was born, Shamshad was at last well enough to leave hospital and return to her MK home.

She could finally hold her baby for the first time and cuddle the daughter she had not seen for weeks.

"It was a wonderful moment." said Mohammed. "But Shamshad is still very weak. She is not strong enough to walk and the doctors say it will be several months before she gets back to normal."

The family has now joined forces to urge everybody to have the Covid vaccine.

Shamshad herself wants to reinforce the importance of having a Covid vaccine as she does not want other families to suffer as her own has.

"We encourage everyone to follow the government guidelines and please do get the vaccine when it is offered. Stay safe,” she said.

Shamshad had no idea she had Covid when she presented at the hospital for a routine scan on December 15, at seven months pregnant. She had felt slightly off-colour but put it down to the pregnancy.

A swab was performed and she tested positive.

Though she had no underlying health conditions, doctors admitted her to monitor the baby. Her condition became progressively worse as the virus took hold and within days she was struggling to breathe.

Within days doctors decided ventilation was the only option - but first they had to save the baby by delivering her prematurely. The C-section was carried out on December 23, two days before Christmas.

"We were all self-isolating, so no-one could be there," said Mohammed.

This week family members are still rallying round to help Shamshad, her husband, and their children.

Shamshad said: “I wish to thank God, my family, friends and all those who prayed for me, as well as all the fantastic NHS staff at MKUH especially in Intensive Care and in the Neonatal Unit."

"We have named our new baby girl Shifa, which is the Arabic word for healing/cure. She is doing well. There are so many sad stories at the moment, and I hope others will find some solace in our story."