HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida mother is taking steps to make sure her baby is born out of harm’s way: She will be staying with family out of state until after she gives birth.
Hollywood resident Gigi Mains, who is 15 weeks pregnant, and her husband, Jarrod Mains, have been watching the Zika virus spread, and even though health officials said there are no cases that have originated in Broward County, the concerned couple said the threat is too close for comfort.
Gigi said the lives of her 16-month-old son and her unborn child are her top priority. “He’s our life and he comes first, and the same thing with this baby,” she said, “and I want to give this baby the same chance that he had to be healthy and have a good life.”
Giving her child that opportunity will mean living apart from her husband for the next six months, during what may be one of the toughest and most beautiful times in their lives. “If we have to move away and separate for six months, that’s pennies in the long run,” said Jarrod.
The couple’s second child will be born in Virginia. Gigi and her son will be staying there with family.
7News cameras captured the couple making suitcases and loading up their car on Saturday for the long drive north. Jarrod will drive his wife and son to Virginia and return to Florida.
Their big decision was solidified when Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced a second Zika zone in Miami Beach, Friday.
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That same day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory urging pregnant women and their partners, as well as women who want to become pregnant, to not only avoid the areas where the virus is being spread by mosquitoes, but simply to stay out of the county entirely, if possible.
The mosquito-borne illness has been linked to serious birth defects like microcephaly.
“It’s just not worth the risk to us,” said Jarrod. “Is Broward going to be next? You don’t know.”
“They’re wearing long sleeves, long pants, doing the bug spray thing, but I don’t want to live in fear,” said Gigi. “I mean, every time I just go to my car, [I ask myself], ‘Am I gonna get bit?'”
Gigi is due to give birth on Valentine’s Day. She advised other pregnant women who live in South Florida is to leave if they can.
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