On the night of May 21, a baby girl cried and was born in the isolation operating room of Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases within the Obstetrics and Gynecology department,

Her mother is Lo Thi K. (33 years old, from Dien Bien). She and her husband have been married for 11 years but are infertile. After many times of in vitro fertilization, there is good news. Unfortunately, Ms. K. contracted Covid-19 when she was 35 weeks pregnant.

In the last weeks of pregnancy, the mother's condition deteriorated, her lungs were badly damaged, and respiratory failure increased, leading to fetal failure. Doctors immediately ordered emergency surgery to keep both mother and baby safe.

A resilient baby girl was born in the midst of the epidemic, weighing 2.6kg, but the mother had a coma and had to be taken to the Intensive Care Unit for mechanicall ventilation.

In the early hours of a child's life without a mother nearby, the family from far away Dien Bien did not catch the car in time to take care of the child. At this time, the nurse in the Pediatric Department of the hospital expressed milk and donated it to the baby.

Ms. N.T.H.A. (27 years old), one of the two nurses in the story shared with VietNamNet, she and nurse N.T.O. both have children 6-7 months old, still in the stage of breastfeeding. After receiving the information that the baby had just been born and needed milk, they quickly squeezed out 3 bottles, sent it to the Faculty, and gradually fed the baby within 24 hours.

When the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases issued a medical isolation order (May 5th), nurse H.A. and O. still carry out the task of taking care of the pediatric patients at the Faculty. However, in the following days, the Pediatrics Faculty began to receive positive cases, the nurses were given priority not to participate in treatment, transferred to isolation in a separate area so that they could soon return to their children.

The sisters have had 3 times negative for SARS-CoV-2, so the milk supply for newborn babies is very safe. “When I heard of the news, I just feel sorry for the baby. I myself have raised children so I understand how precious breast milk is. The mother is in a coma so the baby is very disadvantaged", nurse H.A. said.

Currently, the baby is being cared for by her aunt in a separate isolation room in the Pediatrics Faculty, the two nieces and nephews have tested for SARS-CoV-2, the results are negative. Because the mother is still unconscious, the child has not been named by the family.

Circumstances pushing a mother away from children probably make N.T.H.A. more sad to hear about that newborn baby.

Ms. H. A. has stayed at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases for more than 20 days since the hospital implemented medical isolation (May 5th). 7-month-old son was forced to switch to formula milk. Before that, the baby drank exclusively breast milk.

Her husband took care of the children alone, and the grandparents were in the Bac Ninh epidemic area so they could not come to help. In the early days when Ms. H.A. isn't at home, the son cried loudly for his mother, when he slept, he constantly huddled around to find his mother's breast. The baby is not used to drinking formula milk, the first few days he has diarrhea, the next few days he is constipated. It takes about a week to change milk continuously for the baby to finally be able to eat and cry less.

At the hospital, a lot of milk came, causing H.A. breast to be Irritated, painful, had to use the milking machine to get out. “I feel sorry for my child as he is too young. The child at home is thirsty for milk, crying, and the mother here has to give up milk," said H.A. to speak.

The nurse shared that she did not know when she could go home because she was still in an isolation period. What worries her most is that the milk is not coming back much, if left for a long time, it may disappear completely, and there will be no milk for breastfeeding. Her biggest wish as well as all medical staff with small children is to return to see their children soon.

“Even the mother who is in a coma, I believe she also has a strong desire to wake up to hug her baby. I hope she gets well soon, then mom and baby can meet again." Nursing H.A. spoke.

Long Trần