Twitter | @NHSLankshire / Tracy Maguire via BBC

Preemie Baby Believed To Be Scotland's Youngest COVID-19 Patient Beats The Virus

Updated September 8, 2021

A premature baby who is believed to be the youngest coronavirus patient in Scotland has officially fought off the disease, BBC reported.

Peyton Maguire was born on March 26, a full eight weeks before her due date. Just three weeks later, her parents would be informed that their precious newborn baby had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

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Little Peyton was born weighing just 3lbs 5oz, and soon began showing troubling symptoms, though not the tell-tale symptoms of the coronavirus.

Unsplash | Sharon McCutcheon (not actual baby)

As explained in a press release from NHS Lanarkshire, she had the sniffles and a bad cough, prompting her doctors at Wishaw General Hospital in Lanarkshire to order a whole range of tests.

Among those were a COVID-19 test, just to be absolutely sure they could rule it out.

Peyton's mom, Tracy said that watching her baby get a cotton swab throat test was one of the "worst things" she's ever experienced.

Tracy Maguire via BBC

"It was the first time I'd seen my baby cry tears," she told BBC. "I held her, I was crying and we were just trying to get each other through the situation".

Unfortunately, Peyton's tests came back positive, confirming the premature baby had contracted the coronavirus.

Despite her diagnosis, doctors tried to reassure Tracy that her baby was "fine".

Tracy Maguire via BBC

"I think the doctor was trying to keep me calm but I was sobbing," she recalled. "As much as she was fine I thought at what point was she with the virus? How is she fighting against it when she's so wee?"

"It was just the unknown."

Because Peyton had tested positive, doctors instructed Tracy and her husband to self-isolate at home for 14 days — without their baby.

Tracy Maguire via BBC

"I was pleading on the phone with the doctor saying I don't want to be away from her," Tracy explained. "As much as everyone was looking after her, I'm her mum. Even if it was the cold, I'd want to be there with her."

It was eventually decided that Tracy could stay with Peyton, while dad Adrian completed the self-isolation period alone in order to be with his baby girl.

On April 20, Peyton was declared virus-free, and she and her mom were discharged from the hospital.

She had twice tested negative for the virus, decidedly confirming that she was officially clear of COVID-19.

The fantastic news was tweeted out by the official NHS Lanarkshire Twitter account, which included a heartwarming photo of the happy family, showing proud dad Adrian finally being allowed to hold his daughter.

Now that their daughter is finally home, Tracy has spoken out to praise the doctors at nurses at Wishaw General for everything they did to save Peyton's life.

Twitter | @NHSLankshire

"They are doing a job that is unreal - they put their life at risk to make sure my baby was getting fed and cuddled in their full PPE," she said. "It's spectacular, you'll never understand how grateful you can be to people. Peyton is my most precious thing in the whole world and I trusted them to look after her.

She added, "To any mums that are worried, put your trust in these nurses."

h/t: BBC

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