Covid-19 positive pregnant woman loses baby

Marzanne Lennox and her husband Thomas were going to name their miracle baby Jensen. Plans for the baby shower were under way and everyone in the family was excited to meet baby Jensen.

This week, they were heartbroken by news of the baby’s death. Lennox, 29, has been in ICU after testing positive for Covid-19.

Two weeks ago the fashion designer started feeling nauseous and had a blocked nose. She thought nothing of it because she was 30 weeks pregnant. Initially Lennox only had a blocked nose and a sore throat, she was given antibiotics by a doctor in Midrand where she lives with her husband.

Her father, Skip Scheepers, who lives in Kilner Park in Pretoria, felt it was best for her to stay with him and his wife Ina, where she could recover.

Ina described her daughter as a strong woman who was never sick as a child.

“Marzanne is a fighter, she's strong-willed and doesn't like injustice. On the Sunday we saw things weren't going well but she never complained. She's never been a sickly person, not even as a child. By Monday we took her to another doctor because things started going downhill from there, she was struggling for her life,” Ina said.

Lennox was admitted to Life Wilgers Hospital on June 30, she had tested positive for Covid-19 and was placed in ICU on a ventilator. While fighting for her own life, Ina said she constantly asked about the wellbeing of her unborn son.

“Maybe she felt something wasn’t right, she asked about the baby in the beginning but doctors were still hoping everything would be OK,” Ina said.

The family got the news of the baby’s death on July 3. Lennox was told this week that she lost her baby.

“It was a terrible time and a terrible loss for all of us, this would’ve been our first grandchild and their first child; he already had a name, Jensen. They were already preparing his room and we were doing invites for the baby shower,” Ina said.

Doctors waited for Lennox to get stronger before telling her and performed a C-section on Tuesday. The family said the procedure went well and even though she’s still in ICU, she is doing better.

Skip took pictures of Thomas to his daughter and magazines, but due to regulations he wasn’t able to see his daughter.  

“When they told her about the baby, she was very emotional but she’s coping with it. The terrible thing is that we can’t see her,” Ina said.

Nurses and doctors have been supporting Lennox and have been keeping the family updated on her progress.

Ina described this as a “miracle baby” because Lennox and her husband struggled to fall pregnant. The family are still unsure where she contracted Covid-19 from or what caused the death of the baby. Lennox will be in ICU for the next few days.

“Thomas is coping well; we try to keep each other positive. Yesterday was a bad day, he was really struggling, it’s so sad. This was something we all looked forward to, we were so excited for the new baby,” Ina said.