Almost three months after giving birth in a coma to Covid-19, a Wisconsin woman met her newborn son for the first time last week.
Kelsey Townsend, 32, was recently discharged from a hospital in Madison, Wisc., And met with her husband and four children, including their daughter Lucy. She said it was “amazing” to hold her daughter when she came home.
“I waited a long time to meet her and I was very happy,” Townsend told NBC News.
In late October, she was nine months pregnant when she was diagnosed with Covid-19. Shortly after contracting the virus, Townsend, who had no pre-existing illnesses, was admitted to a nearby hospital due to shortness of breath, coughing and pneumonia, according to her husband, Derek Townsend. There, she was put into a medically induced coma and gave birth to Lucy, who tested negative for the virus and later joined the rest of the family at home.
Townsend’s health quickly deteriorated and she was transferred to UW Health in Madison, where she spent several months on an ECMO machine and a fan.
“There wasn’t much certainty that she would be coming home. There were many nights when I got calls from the doctors saying that they thought she wouldn’t be able to survive the night – it was an emotional roller coaster,” said Derek.
In December, doctors said that Townsend needed a double lung transplant to survive, and she was put on a waiting list. Derek said he broke the news to his wife on Christmas Eve, saying “she was not getting better and could not go home without the transplant”.
Within days of being added to the waiting list, Townsend’s lung condition improved significantly, and in mid-January, she was removed from the intensive care unit and turned off an ECMO machine and a ventilator. She is also no longer accepting offers for a double lung transplant.
Dr. Daniel P. McCarthy, a cardiothoracic surgeon at UW Health and director of the ECMO program, who cared for Townsend closely, said he did not know what allowed his lungs to recover after fighting the virus for months.
“We really don’t fully understand why some people recover and others don’t … or what causes the lungs to suddenly start repairing and healing in a way that allows us to make the progress we’ve made,” said McCarthy.
On January 27, Townsend was discharged from the hospital and is currently receiving supplemental oxygen and receiving physiotherapy treatment.
“Her strength in this whole process is what inspired our entire family to be strong. She was often down and out, but she got over it, ”said Derek.
Although it takes months for Townsend to recover and regain her strength, McCarthy said she was optimistic that she would fully recover from Covid-19.
“Kelsey has made significant strides … she really is an inspiration because of the way she has faced all these challenges,” added McCarthy.