An unvaccinated mother says she doesn't regret refusing the COVID-19 jab - even after her premature baby died with the virus.
UK woman Katie Leeming caught the virus in October and while she initially felt fine, she grew concerned after her baby stopped moving.
The 22-year-old went to hospital, where doctors decided she had to deliver early because the baby had an issue with its heart rate. Her baby was born 14 weeks' premature and weighed just 2lb 30oz. The baby tested positive when she was born and was moved to a neonatal unit.
Sadly, the baby's heart rate and oxygen levels declined and the family decided to switch off her life support.
Leeming told the Daily Mail she is devastated by her daughter's death.
"I've gone from feeling completely numb, feeling as if nothing has happened and expecting to feel the baby's movements - because I should still be pregnant with her - to completely heartbroken about how it all happened. I'm devastated."
But she said she doesn't regret refusing the vaccine because she'd heard "horror stories" about it online.
"I had read about the COVID-19 vaccination on pregnancy groups. One lady said she had received the vaccination and that her baby was stillborn the week after," she told the Daily Mail.
"There obviously could have been other reasons for this, and the vaccine might not have caused it, but it scared me and put me off.
"Just hearing the horror stories about women having miscarriages made me not want to take the risk."
Leeming added she could still have caught the virus even if she was vaccinated.
"I don't know if it would have made a difference or not. I had thoughts in my mind about it - what if I'd had it? Would she still be here today? What if it's my fault? But my midwife told me I can't afford to think like that," she told the Daily Mail.
"I could have still caught COVID-19 after the vaccination, or worse, if I did have it and something happened anyway, I would have blamed the vaccine."
Pregnant people are at a much higher risk from COVID-19 and experts have repeatedly said the vaccine is safe and recommended.
While fully vaccinated people can still catch the virus, they are significantly less likely to get very unwell, require hospitalisation or die than unvaccinated people.
More than 142,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the UK.
