South Carolina mom on ventilator after testing positive for COVID-19 at 37 weeks pregnant

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. (WTVD) -- A South Carolina mother is on a ventilator and in a medically-induced coma after testing positive for COVID-19 at 37 weeks pregnant.

According to WSOC, Cierra Chubb was waiting to get vaccinated until after she gave birth because she was unsure how the shot would affect her unborn son, Myles.

The CDC considers the vaccine safe to use for pregnant or breastfeeding women. However, while the vaccine has an abundance of thoroughly tested evidence showing that it is safe and effective to use on people over 12 years old, there is not a lot of evidence to prove it is safe for pregnant women. Instead the CDC reports the vaccine is "unlikely to pose a risk" to pregnant women based on how the vaccines work.

Weeks before Chubb was due to welcome Myles into the world, two of her other children caught COVID-19. They experienced some mild symptoms and quickly recovered.

Chubb then started showing symptoms, which got bad enough that she needed to go to the hospital.

On her 33rd birthday, she was admitted to the hospital. That's where doctors noticed Myles showing signs of distress in the womb.

"They had to put Cierra on anesthesia and give her a tube and delivered Myles," Chubb's husband Jamal said in an interview with WSOC.

Myles arrived safely and in good health. He did not have COVID-19. Myles and Jamal were able to spend 1.5 days with Chubb before her condition worsened.

"This was the first time I, in our 12 years of marriage and three kids, that I've ever had to ride in a car and pick up a baby that's ours, and Cierra not be in the backseat making sure he was OK," Jamal said.

Chubb remains in the hospital. Her husband is hopeful she will kick the virus and return home soon. Until then, he's calling on others to take the virus seriously.

"They say only two percent of people in our nation die from COVID-19, but two percent is 100 percent of somebody's world and it looks like our world could be changed forever -- even if she gets better, even when she gets better," Jamal said. "So, for me, I would say to people out there, weigh the risk."