PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A Volusia County family is on edge as a new mom battles COVID-19 from a hospital bed after she was admitted while nine months pregnant.
Shantel Feliciano’s husband, Heriberto, said she is has been sedated at the hospital for over a week.
“We’ve been praying hard. We’ve got hundreds and hundreds of people praying for her. We’ve got different churches all over the country praying for her,” he said.
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Heriberto Feliciano said his wife’s symptoms started Friday, Aug. 6. She was having a hard time breathing.
“I had tested positive for COVID so more than likely she tested positive because, by the time we noticed I had symptoms, we had already been in the same room sleeping and stuff like that,” he said.
He said doctors told them to monitor her breathing but by Sunday, it became more irregular.
“I rushed her to the hospital, they admitted her, and they said the oxygen level was pretty low to the point that they were uncomfortable, so they came up with the plan to do the emergency C-section,” he said.
With Shantel Feliciano sedated and Heriberto Feliciano still home quarantined, their son was born. He had a pneumothorax, which is when small air sacs in the lungs are overinflated and burst. He was put on oxygen for a few days.
“He’s doing a lot better. He is home with us now after I tested negative, we were able to bring him home,” Heriberto Feliciano said.
As of Monday, Shantel Feliciano is still sedated because her lungs are not fully functioning. A GoFundMe was set up to help the family while doctors work on her oxygen levels.
Heriberto Feliciano said his wife was undergoing another surgery Monday evening.