33-year-old California mother dies of Covid before she could hold newborn daughter

A California mother died from Covid-19 complications before she was able to hold her newborn daughter, after they had to be separated to protect the baby from the virus.

Vanessa Cardenas Gonzalez, 33, from Whittier, California, who was already the mother to two sons, contracted Covid-19 towards the end of the pregnancy of her daughter in early November.

“I was like, ‘Don’t worry,’ you know. ‘We’re going to get through this together,’” Ms Gonzalez’s husband Alfonso Gonzalez told her after the positive test, according to Fox 5.

A few days later on 9 November, Ms Gonzalez gave birth to her daughter Heaven, but was immediately separated from her to prevent the baby from contracting coronavirus.

After both Ms Gonzalez and her baby were deemed well enough to return home later that day, they left the hospital, but stayed separated in order to protect the baby as her husband feared that the virus could still be passed on as she had only recently contracted Covid-19.

“That can't happen. I'm sorry but you know the baby needs to be separated right now. We need to take precautions,” Mr Gonzalez told his wife, according to Fox 5.

He said that when Ms Gonzalez got home “she was broken. She was shattered,” and added: “I would show the baby on FaceTime and it would just break her. It would break her because she just wanted to hold the baby.”

Mr Gonzalez told her not to worry as she would win her battle with Covid-19, but within 48 hours of going home, her condition worsened and Ms Gonzalez suffered a heart attack.

She was readmitted to the hospital, but after being in the facility for more than a month, Ms Gonzalez died on 14 December.

Mr Gonzalez told Fox5 that he is devastated, but will keep the personal items of his wife of 13 years to hand down to Heaven, saying: “I'll tell her that was my rib. That was my other half.”

A family friend, Desiree Vera, has set up a GoFundMe page to help Alfonso pay for Ms Gonzalez’s funeral.

The campaign has already received more than four times its original $10,000 (£7,413) goal, as it has raised $42,236 (£31,679) at the time of writing.

Mr Gonzalez told Fox 5 that his church family and his faith are helping him cope, but reminded others to take coronavirus seriously, adding: “Wear your mask.”

Since the start of the pandemic, California has recorded at least 2.21 million cases of coronavirus and more than 24,529 deaths.

According to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 19.3 million people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached 335,820.