Coronavirus: Nurse who died days after giving birth felt too ‘helpless’ to stop working, says husband

'She was very kind. Her heart was pure and she was very genuine,' says husband Ernest Boateng

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A nurse who died of coronavirus days after she gave birth by emergency caesarean section to a baby girl felt too “helpless” to ask her employers if she could stop working, her husband has said.

Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong succumbed to Covid-19 in April just a week after she was admitted to hospital with the infection and days after her daughter was delivered.

Her husband, Ernest Boateng, revealed in an interview with the BBC that the 28-year-old nurse felt she could not ask to stop working despite being heavily pregnant, even when she was warned by a union representative that it was not safe.

Mary had worked as a nurse at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital in Bedfordshire for five years. Her death sparked calls for the government to protect pregnant workers and highlighted the difficulties faced by women to negotiate safe working conditions.

Mr Boateng said his wife was so worried about contracting the virus that “anytime she returned back from work she had to start undressing from the doorstep”.

“As soon as she entered the house, the first thing she would do it undress, leave the uniform there and walk straight to the washroom – to the bathroom to have a shower – before she could come down to socialise with the family or even talk to us,” he said.

Following her death, Mr Boateng said one of her union representatives told him that he had warned Mary that it was not safe for her to be working and “you need to get out of here”.

“But she said she couldn’t help it, she was helpless,” said Mr Boateng. “There is no amount of words that can really explain how I am feeling within.

“There are some times I just laugh and smile about the precious moments we had together for the past three-and-a-half years. There are times too I can be walking and just crying.”

The Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust told the BBC that Mary had been on sick leave by the time the first coronavirus patient was admitted to her ward at Luton and Dunstable Hospital.

But Mr Boateng said that was “difficult to comprehend” as during the time Mary had taken ill, “some of her colleagues were even self-isolating”.

The trust said: “We were extremely saddened to lose Mary. We have carried out a full internal review of the circumstances surrounding her death and we are confident she received the best possible care and support from the Trust.

“We have sent our deepest condolences to Mr Boateng, and are currently working through a number of issues he has raised.”

Mr Boateng described Mary as “very kind”, with a “pure” heart. He added: “We know that men are not perfect, (not) everybody is perfect, but Mary was.”