A young mother has implored expecting parents to get the Covid vaccine after succumbing to the virus and being forced to give birth by caesarean section 16 weeks early.
Claudia Li, 30, who lives in Birmingham, said she hugely regrets turning down the jab after being offered it via letters and text messages.
The project engineer for Severn Trent Water said she feared the vaccine 'could potentially do more harm than good to the baby.'
But after catching Covid at work last month, she almost lost her son as she was placed unconscious on a ventilator - leaving medics at Birmingham's City Hospital no choice but to urgently deliver the baby to save her.
The boy, yet to be named, weighed just 1lb 4oz - less than a bag of sugar - and while he has been growing stronger by the day, he remains on a ventilator because his lungs are not fully developed.
Claudia Li, 30, (pictured with her newborn) who lives in Birmingham, said she hugely regrets turning down the jab after being offered it via letters and text messages
In a message to expecting parents, Ms Li said: 'Please, take the vaccine. I didn't. Don't risk yours and your baby's life.'
Ms Li and husband Scott, 29, a secondary school maths teacher, were excitedly planning for the arrival of their first child, expected in the late autumn.
Her pregnancy was going well, with the soon-to-be mother not even suffering from the expected morning sickness.
But things changed dramatically last month when the Hong Kong native went to her office on July 7 and developed symptoms later that week.
She said: 'My gut told me something was not right. I went on and did a lateral flow test on the Sunday morning of July 11, and it turned out positive. I then booked myself a PCR test the same afternoon to confirm.
'I kept on working up to July 13 but became too ill to work.
Ms Li and husband Scott, 29, (pictured together in June) a secondary school maths teacher, were excitedly planning for the arrival of their first child, expected in the late autumn
'I was waiting to see how my symptoms would develop and how I would feel down the line but my symptoms got worse on Friday July 16. I booked a telephone appointment with my GP and got referred to have a face to face assessment.'
At that point she was given a fingertip pulse oximeter and told to raise the alarm if the reading dropped below 92% - but just hours later she was in an ambulance on her way into the hospital after her condition deteriorated.
'Because of Covid my husband wasn't allowed to come with me, I believe it was at that moment it all became so real, (I realised) I was very sick and wasn't able to get better myself,' she added.
Initially a surge of oxygen delivered via a mask made her feel better.
'I wasn't feeling too bad at that point and I still had the ability and strength to message my husband and gave him updates,' she said.
But over that weekend her condition deteriorated quickly.
She recalled: 'The whole thing happened very quickly. I'm trying to remember the details but when the doctor talked to me I was quite poorly and I was quickly intubated afterwards (put on a ventilator) so my memories are a bit vague.
'What I remember is that the doctor told me they were considering carrying out a Caesarean Section to save me and they will do the best for the baby.'
The operation was carried out on July 20 and the baby was immediately whisked away into intensive care while Claudia continued to fight the virus.
She was discharged earlier this week but remains under regular surveillance.
