She was eight months pregnant and weeks from welcoming her fifth daughter to the world, but Saiqa Parveen died of Covid after putting off getting the coronavirus jab. Her family have now issued an emotional plea for pregnant women to get vaccinated. Parveen, 37, had planned to delay having the jab until her baby was born, her family said, but she was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties in September and put on a ventilator. A decision was taken by medical staff at Good Hope hospital in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, to deliver the baby by emergency caesarean section. Parveen died on 1 November after spending five weeks in intensive care. She never got the chance to meet her newborn baby, her fifth daughter, named Dua Maryam. Her husband, Majid Ghafur, a 40-year-old taxi driver, is now caring for all five girls. He told Sky News: “She didn’t even know if she’d had a baby girl or a boy. It was just shocking. She didn’t have a chance to talk to me, five minutes even, to tell me about the daughters, you know, what to do.” Asked what her last words were, Gahfur said: “She couldn’t even talk. She couldn’t breathe properly … She couldn’t talk.” He added: “I’m going to pass this message to the whole world, I just beg all people to get the vaccine, otherwise it’s very hard for them. It’s a very deadly disease, you know. She planned so many things, and this disease didn’t give her a chance.” Parveen’s brother Qayoum Mughal told the BBC his family had “lost everything”. He described how his sister had received a letter offering the vaccine, but told her family: “It’s too late now. When I’ve had my baby, I will get my vaccine.” “But she didn’t get the chance,” he said. Mughal described her as a “lady of principle” and said: “Please, please, please get the vaccine, whether you are pregnant or not. For the sake of God and the sake of your loved ones, please get vaccinated … Save yourself and your loved ones.” Covid vaccines are recommended for pregnant women. In a letter to midwives, obstetricians and GP practices in July, the chief midwife for England, Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, said all healthcare professionals had “a responsibility to proactively encourage pregnant women” to get vaccinated. Parveen chose not to have the vaccine, but concerns have been raised that pregnant women are being turned away from vaccine clinics despite clinical advice. Members of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation told the Guardian that they were urging ministers to focus more on pregnant women because only about 15% in the UK have been fully vaccinated. Among all over-12s, the figure is 79%. Data from Oxford University’s MBRRACE-UK study on maternal health shows that at least 13 pregnant women died with Covid between July and September this year, 85% of whom were believed to have been unvaccinated. That figure is higher than in the first and second waves of the pandemic, when nine and 11 pregnant women died but jabs were not available. Prof Marian Knight, the lead for the MBRRACE-UK programme, said there was still no joined-up messaging across the health service. “Women are being turned away from clinics and now there are some trusts offering it as part of the maternity service, but it is not universal, so there are still barriers,” she said. A funeral for Parveen is due to take place on Monday.