Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


'My Sorrow Is Deep and Bitter': Woman Dies of Coronavirus Shortly After
Giving Birth

Tsion Girma

   WASHINGTON - The Ethiopian community in the Washington, D.C., area is
   mourning the loss of a woman who died from coronavirus shortly after
   giving birth, without seeing her newborn.

   Wogene Debele of Takoma Park, Maryland, was eight months pregnant when
   she began experiencing symptoms including fever, shortness of breath
   and loss of sense of smell. On March 25 she was hospitalized, and her
   son was born one month early via emergency cesarean section. On April
   21 she died due to complications from the virus. Her son is healthy and
   does not have the disease.

   On Friday at the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex in Virginia, mourners
   wore masks and stood at a safe distance from one another. Her husband,
   Yilma Asfaw, collapsed on the casket, crying out in Amharic. "You
   didn't see the boy you were looking for. You left your four children,
   and what would I do for them?" Despite his distress, his friends and
   family were unable to comfort him due to the distancing restrictions.

   Her 17-year-old daughter, Mihret Yilma, said the loss is impossible to
   process. "I didn't just lose one person. I lost three. I lost my
   mother, my sister and my friend. We were very close. She left without
   saying goodbye," she told VOA, speaking a mix of Amharic and English.
   "She taught me the meaning of strength and faith. We are safe because
   of her prayer night and day."

   The daughter has been thrust into the role of mother, mixing milk
   formula to feed the baby and taking care of the newborn for three
   weeks. She said she takes solace in her new responsibility.

   "The newborn baby reminds me of my mother," she said. "I feel like I am
   finding my mother through my siblings. From now on, they are all I've
   got. Mom used to say when I have my own children that I wouldn't need a
   babysitter and that she would raise my children."

.