LI mom meets son for first time after giving birth on ventilator
A Long Island mom got to meet her newborn son on Wednesday for the first time — more than 10 days after he was born — after giving birth while on a ventilator fighting the coronavirus.
Yanira Soriano, 36, cradled her swaddled newborn in her arms as she sat in a wheelchair donning a face mask, a heartwarming video showed.
Hospital staff at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore where she gave birth erupted in cheers while watching the reunion.
Doctors had to perform an emergency c-section on April 3 after Soriano tested positive for COVID-19 and pneumonia and was put in a medically-induced coma on a ventilator, CBS reports. She was 34 weeks pregnant.
The new mom remained in the hospital’s intensive care unit for nearly two weeks, while her baby boy, named Walter, was transferred to a children’s hospital in New York City, according to GMA.
Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Southside Hospital, said it was “very touch and go” for Soriano and her survival is miraculous.
“We were all very concerned that this mom was not going to survive. It was very touch and go for her,” Schwartz, told WCBS.
“Really sort of miraculously over the last several days she started to just get better and better.”
Baby Walter has tested negative for the coronavirus, the station reports.
Soriano was discharged Wednesday and now the pair are bonding at home.