Local healthcare professionals have reported an increase in pregnant women testing positive for COVID-19, with many ending up hospitalized.

According to some Valley doctors, most pregnant women are still hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Still, Dr. Uvaldo Cantu, an OB/GYN and chief of staff at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, is trying to reassure them that the vaccine is safe. 

"Sometimes we have to deliver moms a little sooner than anticipated," Cantu said. "We've had several patients up in the ICU intubated, and even if they're not intubated, they are relatively more sick now than they were before."

Cantu says the Delta variant is the biggest reason behind the increase in hospitalizations among pregnant patients.

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