Osnat Ben Shitrit, 32, and her fetus died late Saturday night from COVID-19 after treatment at the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, the hospital reported Sunday morning.
“My daughter was plucked from us in her 30s with four children,” her mother Roni Siani told Channel 13. “She was a flower.”
Ben Shitrit, a haredi resident of Givat Ze’ev, was hospitalized last Tuesday when she developed breathing problems. Her condition deteriorated rapidly until she suffered from organ failure.
A multidisciplinary medical team has made efforts to treat her, including lengthy resuscitation efforts, the hospital said. The 30-week-old fetus she was carrying was delivered via an emergency C-section in an attempt to save him.
Despite the mother being hooked up to an ECMO machine and the heroic work of the staff, they both eventually died. She had no underlying medical conditions.
Ben Shitrit was buried Sunday afternoon in Har Hamenuhot Cemetery in Jerusalem.
During the funeral, her husband and children wept and praised her.
cnxps.cmd.push (function () {cnxps ({playerId: ’36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b’}). render (‘4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6’);});
if (window.location.pathname.indexOf (“656089”)! = -1) {console.log (“hedva connatix”); document.getElementsByClassName (“divConnatix”)[0].style.display = “none”;}
“You were a brave woman,” said her husband, Yehuda. ‘A week ago you told me you dreamed you saw your funeral … I ask for your forgiveness. I love you. I promise I’ll take care of our kids … What am I gonna do without you? “
He asked his dead wife to pray for their family from heaven.
Hadassah employees were very emotional about the loss, the hospital said.
“The entire Hadassah team shares in the family’s deep grief,” said a statement.
Last week, a 25-week-old fetus died at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital after contracting COVID-19 from his mother. The fetus had contracted the virus through what is known as vertical transmission, which means that it was transmitted from mother to baby through the placenta.
This was the first fetus to die in this way in Israel.
According to Prof. Arnon Wiznitzer, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva, to date, in only 1% to 3% of cases worldwide, a pregnant mother has passed the virus directly to her baby.
The country opened vaccination to pregnant women last month after it became clear that the third wave of coronavirus affects young people.
More than 2,500 pregnant women were hospitalized with COVID-19 in January and an abundance of babies were born prematurely while their mothers struggled to survive in intensive care.
Currently, there are 50 pregnant or women who have recently given birth who have been hospitalized with the virus, including 10 in critical condition.
In previous waves, pregnant women were not considered at high risk for serious coronavirus cases.
Health experts believe the increase in young people contracting the coronavirus is linked to the British mutation. Genetic sequencing of several pregnant Israeli women revealed they were infected with the variant.
Earlier this month, when the Emek Medical Center in Afula had three pregnant women in serious condition at the same time, the head of the Labor and Childbirth Department, Dr. Raed Salim, women to get vaccinated.
“I recommend pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to get vaccinated against the coronavirus soon,” he said.
Dr. Ortal Neeman, director of maternal fetal medicine at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital, said on Sunday: “The dilemma over whether or not to get vaccinated is understandable but not justified. To date, no women have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Israel after a second vaccination. “
She called on women to “take care of yourself and your fetuses. Any consultation creates an unnecessary risk of infection. “
Ben Shitrit’s family said she was hesitant to vaccinate because of misinformation she received through social networks.
