A MUM was unable to hold her newborn baby for the first ten days of his life after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
Vanesa Muro, from Madrid, said being separated from baby Oliver immediately after his birth was the "hardest" thing she'd ever been through.
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Madrid is currently the epicentre of the outbreak in Spain, which in turn has been one of the countries in the world hardest hit by the pandemic.
The country is currently second only to America in terms of confirmed cases, with 117,000, and second only to Italy in terms of deaths, with almost 11,000.
Both Venesa and husband Oscar Carrilo are now able to see Oliver, though are still not allowed to touch him without protective clothing.
Venesa has already lost an 87-year-old grandmother to coronavirus, so knows it's a serious threat, but says the experience has still been difficult.
"He takes your finger and it’s the plastic [of a glove] that he touches, poor guy, it’s not you, " Venesa told El Mundo.
"But hey, you shouldn’t think about it otherwise you get depressed."
Oliver's birth had originally been scheduled to take place via cesarean on March 16, but was brought forward three days as the coronavirus pandemic got underway.
Venesa had to give birth surrounded by medical staff in hazmat suits, but Oliver was ultimately born healthy and weighing 7lbs 9oz.
For safety reasons, was unable to accompany Venesa and watch his son being born.
"Obviously he could not accompany me, he left me at the emergency door," Venesa said.
Oscar said that the time he spent waiting for Oliver's birth was "the longest hour and a half of (his) life".
Venesa and Oliver were separated straight away and cared for seven floors apart in the same hospital.
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Oliver was kept in an incubator and twice tested for coronavirus as a precaution, but both tests returned negative results.
Venesa stayed at the hospital for two days before having to leave and return home with her son.
Describing the moment she got to see Oliver again after ten days, she said: "It was incredible, it was as if he had also been born that day."
But she added: "I still haven’t touched my son without my gloves. We are longing for it so much.
"It’s hard but it’s almost over. In a very short time, he will be a month [old] and we will go outside.
"He will know his grandparents, uncles and aunts.
"It will all become just a nightmare from which we will have woken up."
The coronavirus has infected more than a million people globally and killed at least 54,000 since breaking out in December.
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