A woman woke up from a COVID-19 coma to learn she gave birth to twins 16 days earlier

• A hospital worker in England who was 26 weeks pregnant fell ill from COVID-19 in March and was put on a ventilator.
• When she woke up in April, she realized her pregnancy bump was gone and feared she had lost her twins.
• The babies, though, were born 16 days earlier by C-section and cared for in the neonatal unit.
• They are now 7-months old and happy at home with their parents and two siblings.

Perpetual Uke, a pregnant hospital worker in the UK, fell ill from the coronavirus in late March, several UK outlets reported.

She was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, and was placed in a medically induced coma while on a ventilator, according to Sky News.

When Uke woke up nearly a month later, she no longer had a pregnant belly and feared the worst. Then she learned that her twins, a boy and a girl, were born by C-section 16 days earlier.

"I was pregnant at 24 to 25 weeks, at that stage, and by the time I woke up, I was so disoriented," Uke told Sky News. "I thought I'd lost my pregnancy because I couldn't see my bump any more. I was really worried."

But her babies — Sochika Palmer and Osinachi Pascal — were born on April 10. Uke was only 26 weeks pregnant at the time. Both babies weighed under two pounds when they were born, according to Sky News.

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The twins were placed on incubators in a neonatal intensive care unit and cared for by their father, who was also minding their two older children.

Matthew Uke told Sky News that when the babies were born he was consumed with worry over his wife's health.

"My wife was still in a coma, sick, I couldn't talk to her," he told Sky News. "I was happy the twins were delivered but the thing is, is my wife coming home?"

Matthew Uke told the BBC News that every day that she was in the coma, he was praying that she would survive.

And when his wife first woke up, she was experiencing "ICU delirium" and was very confused, he told the BBC.

ICU delirium is very common for patients who wake up from a comatose state, and about seven out of 10 patients experience delirium while they are on a breathing machine or soon after, according to the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center.

Those who get it struggle to think clearly and have a difficult time understanding what is happening around them, the center said.

Eventually, Uke recovered and was released home to her family. Now seven months later, the babies are developing well.

"Sometimes I look at them in tears, I never knew they would make it," the mother told Sky News. "It is amazing what medical professional science can offer."