Hungarian doctors recount a remarkable case: a pregnant woman with severe COVID-19 remained unaware of her baby's birth for a full month while in an induced coma, despite grim initial prognoses.
In late 2020, at 35 weeks pregnant, Szilvia Bedo-Nagy tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. After self-isolating, her condition deteriorated rapidly, leading to hospitalization in Budapest, Hungary. As detailed in a Radio Free Europe video from May 19, 2021, she delivered via cesarean section on the day of admission—but wouldn't learn of it until weeks later.
Developing pneumonia, Szilvia struggled to breathe and was admitted to intensive care. Placed on a ventilator and then an artificial lung, doctors induced a coma lasting about 40 days. Her newborn daughter, delivered that first day, was cared for by her husband during this uncertain time.
Szilvia's husband cared for their daughter amid fears for her survival. Hungary then had the world's highest COVID-19 death rate per 100,000 inhabitants, and up to 80% of ventilator patients did not survive. Yet, against all odds, Szilvia awoke—disoriented and inquiring about her delivery.
Medical experts hail her recovery as a miracle. In cases of insufficient oxygen to vital organs, an artificial lung offers the last hope. They note this complex remission was a first in Central Europe. Today, Szilvia, her husband, and daughter are thriving, though she relies on crutches for walking due to bedsores from prolonged immobilization.
