A premature baby girl from Scotland has recovered after contracting COVID-19, making her the country’s youngest COVID-19 patient. Her mum has described her as “the most precious person in the world.”
Baby Peyton Maguire was born prematurely on March 26th in Lanarkshire, weighing just over 3lb.
Peyton was delivered prematurely by cesarean section after her mum, Tracey, was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. Peyton was cared for in University Hospital Wishaw, where she spent the first weeks of her life on an incubator.
The baby girl tested positive for COVID-19 three weeks after her premature delivery.
Incredible care from neonatal nurses
Peyton was given steroids to strengthen her lungs and according to her mum, Tracey Maguire, received "incredible" care from the neonatal nurses.
Ms Maguire said: “When I heard Peyton had Coronavirus I was sobbing and really worried about how it could affect her respiratory system, her lungs and if it was life-threatening…As much as she was fine I thought at what point was she with the virus? How is she fighting against it when she’s so wee? It was just the unknown.”
“Watching the staff at work was incredible. They put their lives at risk to make sure my baby was getting fed and cuddled. Even wearing their PPE, they were determined to hold her.
“Peyton is the most precious person in the world to me and it shows the trust I had in the midwives and the other staff that I put her care in their hands – because that is that they are trained to do.”
The baby girl was discharged from hospital earlier this week after testing negative twice for Coronavirus. She has now settled with her mum and dad in their home in Bellshill.
Babies and Coronavirus
According to UK medics, there is little evidence to suggest that Coronavirus can be passed to a baby whilst inside womb. Evidence does suggest that it would be possible for the Coronavirus to be passed to new-born babies after birth through contact with a carrier.
The pandemic has prompted extensive changes within UK maternity wards with many home births have now been cancelled and caesarean sections re-scheduled. New parents are being encouraged to introduce their baby to family members through video call in order to maintain social distancing regulations.
Extensive handwashing and sanitising procedures are in place across all UK hospital wards to ensure the safety of patients and footfall throughout the hospital.
Ms Maguire added: “My message to any mums-to-be is that they shouldn’t be worried about going into hospital to give birth because the staff know exactly what they need to do to protect everyone from the virus.”