It’s becoming depressing - Mother enduring long wait for newborn’s coronavirus results

A Manchester mother is pleading with the authorities to provide her with the results of COVID-19 tests done on her and her week-old baby.

The woman claims that she has been in isolation in hospital since April 27, a day after she gave birth to her first child.

She said her ordeal started after she took her baby home from the hospital and realised that he was sleeping for a long period. When she tested his temperature, she got a reading of 103degC.

She took the baby back to the hospital. The child was admitted for observation.

The mother said that the doctors did not suspect her child had COVID-19, but she feels that a panic attack contributed to her returning to the hospital in the wee hours of the night.

Isolated with the baby

She related that when she got there, she saw health workers dressed in Hazmat suits. She was eventually isolated with the baby.

Samples were then taken from her and the baby on April 28, however, the results have not been communicated to her.

"To be waiting for so long is becoming depressing, and I'm trying my best not to have postpartum depression," the mother told THE STAR yesterday.

The health ministry said this week that it has cleared the backlog of samples that it had for testing. Some 6,095 COVID-19 tests were done up to yesterday, 478 of which are positive.

The mother, who contacted THE STAR to relay her story, is hopeful that the samples are among those tested, and that the results would be communicated to her quickly.

"I was expecting to leave the hospital and never return until clinic time. But having a baby is so much to deal with, especially with emotions. Knowing it's my first child, I really think I was having a panic attack, just being home with the child for the first time," she said. "I'm more concerned about my baby daddy missing out on holding and caressing his child."