The husband of a woman who died of COVID-19 without having chance to meet her newborn baby has pleaded with people to get the vaccine.

Saiqa Parveen, 37, passed away on Monday after spending five weeks in intensive care.

She contracted COVID-19 when she was eight months pregnant with her fifth child.

Her husband said she had been offered a vaccine but had decided to wait to have it until after her baby was born.

As her condition deteriorated in September, doctors at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield took the decision to put her on a ventilator and deliver her baby.

Dua Maryam was born healthy, but her mother was never able to hold her and passed away on 1 November.

At their home in Birmingham, her devastated husband Majid Ghafur is now caring for their five daughters, Noor, 13; Imaan, 11; Hibbah, eight; Ayesha, seven and newborn Dua Maryam.

Mr Ghafur, 40, told Sky News “she didn’t even know if she’d had a baby girl or a boy”.

“It’s very sad, very sad,” he said.

“It was just shocking. She didn’t have a chance to talk to me, five minutes even, to tell me about the daughters, you know, what to do.

“She couldn’t even talk. She couldn’t breathe properly, she couldn’t talk.

“This has changed my life completely. Since this happened, I’m thinking how do I cope with this?”

He was able to visit his wife in intensive care but his daughters had to say goodbye to their mother over FaceTime.

Mr Ghafur said: “She was a very great person, my wife.

“Since [she was] in hospital, every night I’ve been praying. She was battling with this deadliest disease. Finally, she couldn’t cope.”

He added: “I’m going to pass this message to the whole world, I just beg all people to get the vaccine, otherwise it’s very hard for them.

“It’s a very deadly disease, you know.

“She planned so many things. And this disease didn’t give her a chance.”

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