A first-time mum welcomed her ‘magic’ IVF baby while she was suffering with coronavirus – and had to give birth in a bereavement room used for stillbirths.
Claire Trusson, 37, fell pregnant after having IVF following two years of struggling to start a family with her husband Murray Mitchell, 33. But just weeks before she was due, she started to experience ‘cold’ symptoms and went into isolation – until she started experiencing contractions. In hospital, medics had to put her in the most isolated room on the ward to keep her away from all others – which turned out to be the bereavement delivery room. Claire went home and a day later tested positive for the virus – just a week before she found herself back in the bereavement suite to safely give birth to baby Jake.
Mrs Trusson and her husband are still concerned about passing the virus onto their three-week-old son. Trusson says giving birth six weeks early while suffering from the virus was stressful – and she even wore a mask while caring for him in the early days.
“They have a memorial clock on the wall, and because I was timing my contractions when I was first in there, I spent a lot of time staring at that clock,” she explains.
But she added that she was “really grateful” to have given birth to baby Jake and avoid further anxiety not knowing what giving birth in a pandemic would be like.
And thankfully, Claire was able to safely give birth to little Jake. On the way home from hospital, Jake met his grandmother Angela and uncle David through the car window.
Now the family are busy adjusting to life as new parents, while also still remaining in isolation due to coronavirus, with the couple admitting about being concerned the virus could be passed onto their three-week-old son. “Every little sneeze and every little cough and every little cry, I jump on him like ‘oh god, you’ve got coronavirus. I’m just trying not to breathe on him.” she explains.
