Namibia’s miracle Covid-19 baby goes home
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News – National | 2022-04-24
by Puyeipawa Nakashole
NINE-month-old Twamona Simataa was born at 27 weeks.
This has left her underdeveloped lungs bleeding.
On top of this, she entered the world infected with Covid-19.
As if this was not enough, Twamona’s mother died two days after her birth.
“I have treated so many complicated cases, but Twamona’s story is different. She could be the youngest Covid-19 survivor we have in the country and possibly the world,” says her doctor, Steffan Bau.
Having been taken care of by more than 40 nurses, Twamona has been hospitalised for over nine months at the Rhino Park Private Hospital in Windhoek since her birth on 1 July 2021.
Bau says Twamona’s severely ill mother was admitted to the hospital on 17 June last year as a Covid-19 patient.
“The obstetrician informed me that she was extremely sick. She wouldn’t have been able to have a caesarean section because she would die if we did, and the baby needed to get out so we could save her life,” he says.
He says Twamona was eventually born through induced labour.
Two days after the delivery, her mother died.
“On day four, I tested her for Covid-19, I didn’t dare test her before, because if I stuck something up [to test] she could bleed to death,” Bau says.
He says the test results were positive, which confirmed Twamona was born with Covid-19.
“A few days later she started bleeding heavily into her lungs,” he says.
This was life threatening, Bau says, and the fact that Twamona survived was a miracle.
A few months after the baby’s birth, she developed a post-Covid condition leaving her with low blood-protein levels and her blood clotting.
“There were so many times I called her family to say there was absolutely nothing else I could do for her, but then she would make it through the night.
“I often said all we can do is pray, so we prayed, and the following day she survived,” he says.
Bau says he has ventilated many patients at high pressure, but never as high as with Twamona.
“When you have adults who really have packed lungs, you go up to pressures as high as 35 to 40, but with Twamona I went up to 50,” he says.
TAKING A BREATH
After a few months, Bau says, Twamona was looking good, but could still not breathe on her own.
This was, among other things, because her nose was clogged.
“Eventually, with so much patience, she was lasered to make sure her nose was open.
“What remained the same with Twamona is that her behaviour was completely normal. She was age appropriate and her brain was completely fine,” he says.
HOME, SWEET HOME
Twamona was finally handed over to her father, entrepreneur Bonang Simataa, on Wednesday this week after almost 10 months in hospital.
Bau says they could not have done it without the help of all the involved staff members.
Simataa this week said losing his wife, also called Twamona, and having his baby hospitalised for all those months has been the most painful experience of his life.
“She was not only my wife, but she was also my best friend and someone I could talk to about everything and anything,” he said.
Simataa said he had high hopes that his wife would return home with their baby.
“I have named my daughter Twamona after her mother, because she reminds me of her,” he said.
“My baby girl is a fighter, a survivor, a warrior and a victor, and I am super proud of her.”
Simataa thanked the hospital, staff and Bau, as well as Psemas and Complimed “for being there for us throughout our stay in the hospital,” he said.
Statistics from the health ministry published in The Namibia in January, revealed that a total of 34 pregnant women and 28 children under the age of 18 have succumbed to Covid-19 in the past two years.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that pregnant people with Covid-19 are at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
This could include preterm births, stillbirths, and admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) if a newborn is also infected. Pregnant women with symptoms of Covid-19 have the two-fold risk of admission to an ICU, and a 70% increased risk of death.
Executive director of health and social services Ben Nangombe last week said pregnant women exeprience physiological changes which put them at high risk of infection in general.
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