In a video, one woman says her family were told she would not survive after giving birth with Covid.
Unvaccinated women who gave birth while severely ill with Covid-19 have shared their stories to encourage pregnant women to get jabbed.
Three mothers who suffered birthing complications due to Covid feature in a video by the UK Health Security Agency.
One mother, Tanviha, said: “My family were told it was unlikely I’d survive and to prepare for the worst.”
The Department of Health said 98% of pregnant women critically ill in hospital with Covid are unvaccinated.
The most recent government figures show 7,373 people with coronavirus in hospital in the UK, down from 7,653 a week earlier. This is far below the peak of nearly 40,000 people back in January.
The video also features doctors and frontline staff who treated the women – they warn of the dangers of the virus for pregnant women and their babies.
Tanviha, who works in anaesthesiology and research in Manchester, said the vaccine was not available to pregnant women when she caught Covid.
She quickly became seriously ill and was taken to intensive care and her son was delivered by emergency C-section.
“The day after I was intubated, the nurse told them they were going to switch the machine off, but instead I was transferred to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which is a last resort for patients with severe heart and lung failure, and it saved my life,” she said.
“The first time I saw my son he was two months old. It’s the scariest experience of mine and my family’s life but I’m just grateful that me and my son are alive.
“If you’re unsure about getting vaccinated please come forward and get your jab, not everyone’s as lucky as I am.”