CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - A coronavirus patient who gave birth to a baby girl six weeks ago got to hold her daughter for the first time on Tuesday after she was discharged from Spaulding Hospital in Cambridge.
Isabel Gonzalez, 34, of Chelsea, tested positive for COVID-19 and gave birth via an emergency C-section at Massachusetts General Hospital on March 30. Just days later, she was transferred to the intensive care unit and hooked up to a ventilator.
Forty-four days after her diagnosis and weeks of battling the disease, Gonzalez tested negative for the virus and was released to her family.
When Gonzalez was wheeled out of the hospital, her newborn daughter Victoria was placed in her arms for the very first time.
Gonzalez was unable to hold Victoria after her birth because she was very contagious.
“She called me that morning and I remember the exact time, it was 5 a.m. She was really devastated,” Isabel’s sister, Marina Gonzalez, told 7NEWS. “She was like, ‘please take care of them.'”
In the days following her birth, Victoria grew stronger under Marina’s care, but Isabel’s condition worsened.
Isabel was intubated and put on a ventilator for weeks but her determination to meet her daughter powered her through.
“I’m just glad to hand her baby off to her in good health,” Marina said.
With the help of a translator, Isabel told reporters that she was “very grateful” for a second chance to live and “thankful” to finally hold her baby.
Family members, with signs and balloons in hand, cheered loudly for Isabel as she left the hospital. A parade of cars then drove by her Chelsea home and honked to welcome her back to the neighborhood.
Isabel could be seen expressing love for all of her family members who helped her celebrate the special day.
Click here for more coronavirus coverage.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)