A PREGNANT teen was left fighting for life in the ICU after catching Covid.

Lucy Smith, 18, had turned down her coronavirus vaccine as she wanted to wait until she gave birth.

But the Brit youngster ended up fearing she and her baby might die when she caught the virus and her lung collapsed.

She was rushed to hospital after struggling with shortness of breath, before getting more and more unwell.

Medics at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, were forced to perform an emergency caesarean, before putting her on a ventilator.

Lucy said: "It was really scary, I didn’t know what would happen to me and my baby.

“I was in the maternity unit for four days before my lungs collapsed.

“They did an emergency C-section and then put me straight on a ventilator, meaning I didn’t get to see my baby, Billie Rae.

“When I was in ICU I didn’t know where I was, I thought I was going to die.”

After spending four weeks in the hospital’s ICU Lucy started to recover, and was moved to another ward and reunited with her daughter.

She said: "I’d seen a photograph of a baby and I hadn’t realised she was mine.

“When I got to see her in the delivery suite, I got to hold her for the first time, it was really emotional, I cried.”

Lucy want other pregnant women to follow their midwife’s advice and get the life-saving jab – as she is planning to do.

“Get it done,” she urged. “It’s really not worth the risk of not getting it. I nearly died.”

Deepika Meneni, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s clinical director for obstetrics, said: “We are so glad to hear both Lucy and her beautiful baby girl, Billy Rae, are doing well and are now able to spend very important bonding time together.

“We would highly recommend that mums-to-be get their Covid-19 vaccine as it’s the best way to keep both them and their babies protected against becoming seriously unwell.

“If you have questions or are undecided, please talk to your midwife, obstetrician or GP, we are here to help support you making a decision based on the best available evidence and information."

Data shows that vaccines are both highly safe and effective for pregnant women and mum's-to-be have been urged to come forward for their jabs.

Around 98 per cent of women who ended up in hospital with the bug have not been jabbed.

Minister for Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi said: “Pregnant women are more likely to get seriously ill from Covid-19 and we know that vaccines are safe for them and make a huge difference – in fact no pregnant woman with two jabs has required hospitalisation with Covid-19.

Dr Pat O’Brien, Vice President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “We now have robust data of nearly 200,000 women from across the US and the UK, who have received the Covid-19 vaccine with no safety concerns.

"This tells us that both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are safe in pregnancy."

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