16 pregnant women, most unvaccinated, admitted to ICU with Covid-19 this year

Ten pregnant women had to be put on a ventilator 

Sixteen pregnant women have been admitted to intensive care units with Covid-19 since the start of the year, health officials have said.

No pregnant women had been admitted in 2020.

"Most" of the pregnant women admitted to intensive care were unvaccinated, Dr Michael Power, the HSE Clinical Lead for Intensive Care, said. 

Ten were put on a ventilator, with seven of the pregnant women giving birth in intensive care.

Dr Power said that no deaths were recorded among the women admitted to intensive care and all babies born survived.

The HSE advises that most pregnant women who get the virus get mild to moderate symptoms, give birth normally and the risk of passing on COVID-19 to their baby is low.

However, pregnant women are "more likely than women who are not pregnant to get very unwell and need treatment in intensive care."

The virus can also cause complications for the unborn baby.

Pregnant women are advised to get both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine between 14 and 36 weeks of pregnancy.

Josh Willis with his wife Samantha who tragically passed away after contracting Covid-19

Derry mother laid to rest after contracting Covid-19 while pregnant 

Yesterday, a new mother who died after contracting Covid-19 before she got to hold her daughter was laid to rest.

Samantha Willis, 35, died in Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry on Friday, two weeks after giving birth to her daughter Eviegrace while battling Covid-19.

The mother of four, who was not vaccinated, had been battling the virus for 16 days, having contracted it while heavily pregnant.

In a social media post, her husband pleaded with others to get the vaccine "so you or your family don’t have to go through what I have had to."