In Bell County, we are seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Since the beginning of July, the number of COVID-19 cases in Bell County has skyrocketed.
"Before July, we were seeing less than 10 to 20 new cases a day, and now we’re seeing over a hundred new cases come in each day,” said Nikki Morrow, Interim Director, Bell County Public Health District.
As cases rise fast so do the number of hospitalizations, and this time that trend is hitting soon-to-be moms at an alarming rate.
"We are seeing an increase in our hospitalized pregnant patients with COVID. It seems like this delta variant is hitting our pregnant moms harder than COVID has earlier in this pandemic,” said Dr. Jessica Ehrig, maternal medicine and maternal transport director at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple.
In fact, the number of pregnant women getting severe COVID-19 infections was around 5 percent and now that number is closer to 25 percent nationwide.
"That's the concerning part is that these pregnant moms are getting more severely affected, more likely to end up in the ICU, and more likely to be intubated than we have ever seen,” said Dr. Ehrig.
Because cases and hospitalizations in Bell County are rising so fast, the Bell County Health District has once again raised the threat level. Officials said there is something the community can do to help.
"Get vaccinated, if you have questions or hesitancy please speak with your doctor or your PCP,” said Morrow.
When it comes to pregnant moms, doctors say the vaccine is even more important for you and the child.
"If we can increase our vaccination rates in the community, we can decrease our infection rates and decrease the risk to these moms and babies from getting COVID,” said Dr. Ehrig.
The illness can be dangerous to anyone but when pregnant moms end up in the ICU, it is also dangerous for the unborn baby.
And, according to doctors, the worse it gets the higher the chances of extremely premature births and miscarriages caused by severe COVID-19 infections.