A Missouri mother who gave birth to a baby girl while on a ventilator has made sure the bond she shared with a nurse who treated her will continue far into the future.
In early September, Monique Jones of Missouri was hospitalized after experiencing chill and shortness of breath. Though she practiced social distancing and rarely left the house because of her pregnancy, the 28-year-old tested positive for coronavirus, she told Good Morning America.
But Jones' condition worsened at the hospital, and on Sept. 6, doctors informed her she would need to be placed on a ventilator.
"She was scared," nurse Caitlyn Obrock — who comforted Jones when she needed it most — recalled to GMA. "I was very invested in her, hoping and praying for a good outcome."
"It was possible that I wouldn't live — that's all I was thinking," added Jones. "They asked me if it was possible to take my baby out. At first, I told them no, but I wasn't getting any better."
While Jones was on the ventilator, doctors at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis delivered her baby via a caesarian section on Sept. 28. The operation was successful, and Jones' daughter, Zamyrah, was born prematurely at 29 weeks gestation.
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Jones woke up from her intubation in early October and was soon moved to a rehab clinic to work on her occupational, speech and physical therapy, according to GMA.
Zamyrah was also transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Louis Children's Hospital, WVLT reported. She would spend the first two months of her life there before she was allowed home in December.
While Jones worked on getting her strength back, Obrock held a baby shower and raised $2,000 in gifts for the family. Obrock said she simply wanted to let Jones know she was still in her thoughts.
"The way she started out motherhood with this baby was unfair and we wanted her to know how special and loved she is," Obrock told GMA.
"She's a miracle," she added. "Her and her baby."
Jones returned home with Zamyrah before the Christmas holiday. Once there, she asked Obrock to become Zamyrah's godmother and join her extended family.
“I feel like I was fighting, not for me but for them,” Jones, a mother of two, told WVLT. “Family always meant a lot, and for me to have one of my own, it feels good to have the support that I need.”
"I am happy and grateful that I'm still here," she added to GMA, "but at the same time it's still overwhelming."
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