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Warning: Distressing content
A young mum in the UK says she doesn't regret not getting vaccinated after her premature daughter died with Covid.
Katie Leeming, 22, of Blackpool contracted Covid and delivered her daughter Ivy-Rose Court 14 weeks premature weighing under 2kg.
Little Ivy-Rose tested positive for Covid after herbirth and died just over a week later.
Now her mother has spoken out, revealing that she avoided the jab after hearing "horror stories" on internet pregnancy forums.
Leeming told the Daily Mail she had no regrets, saying there has been "too little" research into long-term effects on pregnant women and citing the example of her double-jabbed partner who still caught Covid.
Leeming said that she was disturbed by the online reports, revealing how one, in particular, led to her decision.
"One lady said she had received the vaccination and that her baby was stillborn the week after.
"There obviously could have been other reasons for this, and the vaccine might not have caused it, but it scared me and put me off.
"Just hearing the horror stories about women having miscarriages made me not want to take the risk," she told the Daily Mail.
"I don't know if it would have made a difference or not. I had thoughts in my mind about it - what if I'd had it? Would she still be here today? What if it's my fault?"
Ivy-Rose Court died shortly after her premature birth. Photo / GoFundMe
Leeming said that her midwife had told her not to dwell on those doubts and she suggested that if she been vaccinated and delivered Ivy-Rose prematurely, she would have blamed the vaccine anyway.
"If I did have it and something happened anyway, I would have blamed the vaccine."
Campaign of fear
False information on Covid vaccine safety is widespread online and may be influencing pregnant women to avoid vaccination.
In New Zealand, Professor Michelle Wise from the University of Auckland says that anti-vaccination campaigners are preying on fears and misleading women into thinking the vaccine may affect their chance of getting pregnant now or in future, or increase their risk of a miscarriage.
The science shows Covid vaccines have no effect on fertility, do not impact the chance of a miscarriage, and are safe and effective while pregnant, Wise said.
'Completely numb'
Leeming said her Covid journey began when she came down with cold-like symptoms in early October and tested positive.
A week later her symptoms worsened and she stopped feeling movement from her baby.
She was checked at hospital and told that baby had to be delivered immediately, at only 26 weeks.
Ivy-Rose Court was born on October 12 via emergency caesarean and weighing just 175g.
"I have had two other premature children, so I knew what I was expecting, and what the risks were," she told the Mail.
"But I was trying to be as positive as I could, knowing how my other children survived."
Her daughter was born suffering complications due to her prematurity, including a pulmonary haemorrhage and a brain haemorrhage, the Manchester Evening News reported.
But Ivy-Rose's condition deteriorated quickly and Leeming and her partner Lee Court were told to be with their daughter.
"On October 21, she started going down quickly. They told us to go in and be with her, because they weren't sure she was going to make it through the night," she said.
The decision to switch off life support was made in the early hours of the next day.
Leeming said she is "devastated" by her daughter's tragic death and said she is cycling through the stages of grief, sometimes feeling "completely numb" expecting to feel baby's movements.
A spokesman for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust told the Daily Mail: "We are deeply saddened about the death of Ivy-Rose and all our thoughts are with her family at this incredibly sad time."
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