DENVER (KDVR) — A high-risk obstetrics doctor at Rose Medical Center is hoping more pregnant women will get vaccinated against COVID.

Dr. Bronwen Kahn says in the last two months she has seen a number of alarming COVID cases that impacted unvaccinated pregnant women and their unborn babies.

In five cases, the unborn babies were very sick.

“They are not getting enough oxygen from the placenta,” Kahn said.

The expectant mothers noticed their babies were moving less or not at all.

“Most women with COVID don’t have this severe manifestation, but those babies that we have seen have been quite ill, and have had to be delivered prematurely because they look so sick,” Kahn said.

She emphasizes this is rare, but it is new, and it is alarming to her. She hopes more pregnant women get vaccinated.

​”My message is that we are not seeing this kind of complication in women who have had the vaccination during pregnancy,” Kahn said.

Plus, according to data, pregnant women have a higher risk of getting the severe illness. 

That’s one reason why Melissa Shields decided to get vaccinated when she was trying to get pregnant.

Shields is relieved she was able to deliver a healthy baby boy in the middle of the pandemic. 

 “It was just so, so relieving to hear him cry, knowing that he had healthy lungs and he was perfect from head to toe,” the new mom said.