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COVID-19 survivor nurse holds her baby girl for the first time

New mum is reunited with daughter after 76 days in hospital
COVID survivor nurse Eva Gicain, husband Limuel and baby girl Elleana celebrate a late Christmas after Eva had been critically ill in hospital

Nurse contracted coronavirus while pregnant and her condition deteriorated after giving birth

COVID survivor nurse Eva Gicain, husband Limuel and baby girl Elleana celebrate a late Christmas after Eva had been critically ill in hospital
Proud parents Eva Gicain and her husband Limuel celebrate a late Christmas at home with baby Elleana Picture: Royal Papworth Hospital

An emergency nurse with no memory of giving birth while seriously ill with COVID-19 had to wait almost three months to hold her baby for the first time.

Now, Eva Gicain has been reunited with daughter Elleana and was able to celebrate a late Christmas at home, along with healthcare assistant husband Limuel, himself a COVID-19 survivor.

Critical care and long separation for mother and baby

Ms Gicain had to be admitted to Basildon University Hospital at 34 weeks pregnant after contracting coronavirus while off work. She gave birth by emergency c-section but had to be transferred to Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge when her condition deteriorated.

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She was placed on an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, which oxygenates the blood, giving her lungs time to recover from the ravages of the virus.

‘When I held Elleana for the first time I didn’t want to let go… we are now looking forward to being a little family’

Eva Gicain

She remained in hospital for 76 days and said being away from her husband and child made her determined to recover.

‘When I held Elleana for the first time I didn’t want to let go,’ she said.

Elleana had to be cared for by nurses at Basildon’s neonatal intensive care unit while her father recovered from COVID-19 at home.

He said: ‘It was so horrible, the three of us being in separate places when we should all have been together.’

His wife added: ‘Life is unpredictable and we are now just looking forward to being a little family and spending time together.’


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