A mother of 6 died of complications from COVID-19 a day after she gave birth
- Ashley Gomez, a 30-year-old nurse and mother of six, died on January 3 due to complications from COVID-19.
- Gomez, who had been juggling her own COVID-19 patients, parenting five sons, and was in her third trimester of pregnancy just weeks prior, developed shortness of breath.
- She was admitted to a hospital with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which can be fatal for many COVID-19 patients, on January 1.
- "We are heartbroken to say, our beautiful Ashley lost her fight. Devastated is an understatement," a GoFundMe by her family reads.
Ashley Gomez, a 30-year-old mother of six and nurse, died on January 3 due to complications from COVID-19.
Just two weeks earlier, Gomez, who lived in Northridge, California, had been working as a nurse treating COVID-19 patients and raising five sons, all in the third trimester of her pregnancy, reported ABC7.
Her husband Wilbur Gomez told ABC7 that Gomez started experiencing shortness of breath, which later led to a cough and escalated to a fever within a week. Gomez tried to fight the virus at home for as long as possible before her symptoms intensified.
According to a GoFundMe organized by her aunt, Gomez was admitted to the hospital on January 1 for COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which can be fatal.
She was given an emergency C-section the following day to make breathing easier but was unable to hold her son out of precaution to not spread the virus to her newborn.
"She got to see just the picture, so she didn't get a chance to hold him, to kiss him or anything," Wilbur told ABC7.
The following day, she was put on a ventilator to help her breathe but despite the doctors best efforts, Gomez died hours later, with her mother, husband, and children unable to say goodbye in person.
"We are heartbroken to say, our beautiful Ashley lost her fight. Devastated is an understatement," the GoFundMe reads.
Pregnant people have a higher risk of COVID-19 complications
Insider's Anna Medaris Miller previously reported pregnant people have a higher risk of severe complications from the coronavirus, and "should be considered an at-risk population for COVID-19" according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
This is especially true for Black and Latinx pregnant people, who are more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 than white pregnant people, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read more:
A nurse who 'followed every rule' died of COVID-19 a month after giving birth to her 7th child