Mother who delivered baby while intubated with COVID-19 welcomes daughter home

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    FERGUSON, Missouri (KMOV) — A Ferguson woman is celebrating Christmas this year with a new addition to her family, after nearly dying while hospitalized with COVID-19 in September.

Monique Jones tested positive for COVID-19 in early September and went to the hospital after not feeling well. As her condition worsened, doctors intubated the young mother, who was 26 weeks pregnant.

Three weeks later, with her blood pressure skyrocketing and her life in danger, doctors delivered her baby at 29 weeks.

It wouldn’t be until days later when Jones woke up that she would learn she had delivered her baby while intubated.

“It’s a beautiful thing to have her here. I didn’t know what was going to happen, who gonna know if they are going to live or die,” Jones said. “Who’s going to know that? So I took a risk and it paid off.”

Baby Zamyrah spent the last several months in the NICU at Children’s Hospital, after weighing just over two pounds at birth. After growing stronger, doctors sent her home right in time for Christmas.

“I feel like I’m complete and I feel like I was fighting not for me but for them,” she said. “Family always meant a lot and for me to have one of my own, it feels good, to have the support.”

Zamyrah continues to grow daily, weighing more than five pounds at just three months old. As mom and baby continue to recover, they’re grateful to be able to do so at home, together.

“I’m not sure I could have made it without them,” she said.

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