Alarming new numbers about COVID-19 infections in our state.
More than 1,500 people with COVID are in the state’s hospitals, a big jump from just a few weeks ago.
And there are disturbing numbers involving pregnant women with the disease. Doctors say the Delta variant is putting pregnant women at great risk for COVID.
The number of pregnant COVID-19 patients is five times what it was at the beginning of the pandemic.
And they are sicker when they arrive.
The numbers are frightening even to those who routinely help guide women through difficult pregnancies. More expectant mothers are getting COVID-19.
“For the first time during the pandemic we are seeing huge numbers of sick pregnant women, really sick women,” said Dr. Tanya Sorensen.
Dr. Sorensen is a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Swedish Hospital. She says the number of pregnant women being treated here for COVID-19 is many times what it once was.
And the situation is dire across the state.
“We’re seeing ICU admissions,” said Dr. Sorensen, grimly. “We’re seeing maternal deaths. We’re seeing babies born prematurely either to help the mother breathe or to rescue the baby because the baby’s mother is hypoxic. And it’s really heartbreaking.”
Hospital officials say the more contagious Delta variant is infecting more people more quickly. Hospitals are filling up with sicker, younger COVID patients, taking a toll on those taking care of them.
And the impact is being felt by anyone who needs hospital care.
“If somebody here was injured and they tried to go to the ER, it is full of COVID patients right now,” said Katy Greenleaf.
Her husband is a nurse at a local hospital.
“Non-COVID emergencies, health care emergencies, cannot be treated right now because the ER’s and the hospitals’ wings are full of COVID. It is very upsetting.”
Moreover, more than 90% of the desperately ill are unvaccinated, including women who are pregnant.
“It’s 100% right now about the vaccine,” said Dr. Sorensen. “Pregnant women need to get vaccinated. We need you to be fully vaccinated. We need you to do it now.”
Dr. Sorensen insists the vaccine is safe for pregnant women; that it doesn’t cause infertility. The vaccine, she says, might even protect the baby because they are finding COVID-
19 antibodies in mother’s breast milk.
But that message is not getting out.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, just 23% of pregnant women in the U.S. are vaccinated.