The mother died at Whittington Hospital, in London, after delivering the baby (Picture: Rex)

A mother suffering with Covid-19 has died during labour reportedly leaving hospital workers ‘in tears’.

The mum died at the Whittington Hospital, in Archway, North London, and it is not yet known whether she had any underlying health issues.

Her baby survived and is understood to have not tested positive for the virus. The woman’s family have been left ‘devastated’ by her shock death.

An investigation into the mother’s death has since been launched by the coroner.


The mother is understood to have tested positive for coronavirus (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

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A source told The Sun: ‘Amid all the trauma being seen across maxed-out hospital wards by our NHS heroes, this tragedy has totally poleaxed staff.



‘There is a huge sense of disbelief at the unfairness of this devastating death.

‘Senior hospital workers were in tears. The only consolation is that the baby survived the mum’s death’.

The source described the tragedy as ‘highly irregular’, while adding coronavirus ‘has not yet been eliminated as a cause of her death.’

Whittington Health NHS Trust said: ‘This case has been referred to the coroner to determine the cause of death.’

A baby tested positive for Covid-19 just after it was born at North Middlesex Hospital (Picture: Getty)

The news comes after a newborn baby in London became the youngest person in the UK to test positive for the virus last month.

The infant’s mother was reportedly rushed to North Middlesex Hospital, in Enfield, with suspected pneumonia days earlier. It is understood she only learned of her diagnosis right after giving birth.

Both the mother and baby are being treated at separate hospitals – the baby remains at North Middlesex, while the mum has been transferred to a specialist infections hospital.

Doctors are trying to establish how the newborn contracted the virus – whether it was through the womb or during birth.

A total of 5,373 people have now died in the UK after testing positive for the virus, while there are 51,608 confirmed cases.

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