She gives birth to healthy baby but dies from coronavirus before she can hug him

It is the story of a tragedy. While eight months pregnant, 33-year-old American Erika Beccera contracted Covid-19. But although her delivery went without complications, the young woman had to be intubated immediately because she was having trouble breathing. Three weeks later, Thursday, December 3, 2020, Erika died, never having had the opportunity to hold her newborn baby.

Yet nothing predestined her to die of the virus, and this is what her family intends to shed light on today, by recounting her tragic fate. "She had no health problems and had followed all the virus protection rules", reports his brother, Miguel Avilez, to CNN. In November, Erika Becerra spent a weekend in the hospital after having contractions. But it wasn't until she got home that she felt difficulty breathing, and had difficulty moving around. Three days later, an ambulance took her to the hospital, and the doctors decided to induce her delivery, because "his health was not improving". On November 15, her son, Diego, was born healthy.

Storytelling to fight disinformation

After the birth of her son, the new mother remained on a ventilator for almost three weeks. And while the caregivers were able to place Diego against her cheek, so that he could feel his mother's presence, his family members are unsure whether the young woman could have sensed that her son was there. On December 3, she succumbed to the virus, leaving behind her husband, one-year-old daughter and newborn baby. "During her last moments, she was crying", said his brother.

According to him, Erika Beccera wanted to share her story, in order to warn Americans about the virus: "A lot of people say this pandemic is a hoax, but until it happens to them or their families, they won't know the pain it causes.", explained Miguel Avilez. To date, there have been nearly 300,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the United States, which is experiencing a third wave out of control.