New Delhi: UNICEF experts Friday said that a mother, who has tested positive for Covid-19, can safely breastfeed her newborn.
Prasanta Dash, chief of UNICEF field office in Jharkhand, said, “A large section that we interacted with had a misconception that a newborn could be exposed to the infection if the baby is breastfed by a mother, who is Covid-19 positive. However, breastfeeding is totally safe and beneficial.”
The World Health Organization, too, now encourages breastfeeding and intimacy between Covid-positive mothers and newborns.
Another study published in The Lancet last month also corroborated this. The researchers of the study found no cases of transmission of the virus during childbirth or after two weeks of breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact.
Doctors ThePrint spoke to said that the coronavirus that is present in the mother’s blood is not getting filtered into her breastmilk. They, however, suggested that Covid-positive mothers should refrain from spending time with their newborns, apart from the time when they are breastfeeding them.
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‘Discharging babies as soon as they test negative’
Dr Saumya Agrawal, a gynaecologist with a government hospital in Ahmedabad, told ThePrint that they have been giving newborns to their mothers for breastfeeding since March.
“As of now, we know that the coronavirus that is present in the mother’s blood is not getting filtered into her breastmilk or amniotic fluid. So far, of all the babies that I have delivered, none of them have tested positive. We take a swab of the baby as soon as they are born and it usually turns out to be negative.”
While the WHO guidelines suggest that the mother and the baby should be together in a sanitised environment, Dr Agrawal said that they are trying to reduce the contact between mothers and their babies following a trend of babies testing positive for Covid after spending a few days with mothers.
“Initially, we would give the mothers masks and sanitisers and tell them to use these when around the baby. But soon, we saw these babies testing positive within a few days. It was possibly because of the proximity between the baby and the mother.”
She said that in order to prevent this, the hospital discharges the baby as soon as they test negative. The mother then pumps and stores her breast milk, which is given to family members to feed the baby.
Additionally, she said, “There are theories that point that babies of Covid-positive mothers are born with antibodies for the disease, or the mother’s milk may have antibodies. But there is no conclusive evidence to prove this since babies have tested positive after spending a few days with their mothers.”
‘If mother has antibodies, baby will have them too’
Dr Parikshit Tank, Joint Treasurer of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India, said there is hardly any virus in the blood because it is mainly concentrated in the nasopharyngeal and respiratory passages.
“So consequently, what is secreted in the breast milk is an even smaller fraction of that. Even if the particles are secreted in the milk, there is no oral transmission with this virus. For the baby to test positive, the baby must inhale droplets from the mother or any other source.”
Talking about the baby having antibodies, Tank said, “If the mother has antibodies, then the baby will have antibodies too. But the presence of antibodies is an indication that the mother has recovered.”
Dr Mala Srivatsava, president of Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Delhi, agreed that breastfeeding has been encouraged and said, “Recovered mothers do pass their antibodies to their babies.
“While we have seen a few cases of vertical transmission of the virus from the mother to the baby in her womb, we noticed that as the mother starts to recover, the baby recovers too.”
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