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After more than 10 months of fighting the pandemic, some aspects of COVID-19 are still poorly understood by doctors. This is especially true with the risk of mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy and childbirth. Some studies have suggested that this risk of transmission is relatively low and that newborns may be temporarily protected. A hypothesis recently supported by the case of a mother suffering from COVID-19 in early pregnancy, having given birth to a baby already equipped with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies that protect it from the disease.
When Céline Ng-Chan was 10 weeks pregnant, she was diagnosed with COVID-19. At the time, in March, doctors knew very little about how the coronavirus affected pregnant women and their future children. But now that Ng-Chan gave birth to her son Aldrin in early November, the news is encouraging for both Ng-Chan and other women who contract COVID-19 during pregnancy.
Aldrin is COVID-19 free and appears to have acquired protective antibodies, at least temporarily, against his mother’s illness. Ng-Chan was not positive for COVID-19 during childbirth. ” My pregnancy and delivery went well despite being diagnosed with COVID-19 during my first trimester, which is the most unstable stage of pregnancy. I am very lucky to have Aldrin and he is very healthy », Explains Ng-Chan.
Anti-COVID-19 antibodies transmitted from mother to child
Some studies have suggested that mothers with COVID pass IgG antibodies – the type that indicates healing – against the virus to their fetuses. in utero. A paper published in March of six women who tested positive for the virus during childbirth, for example, found that five of the babies had elevated levels of IgG antibodies, although none had COVID-19. All the women wore masks, delivered their babies by caesarean section in negative pressure isolation rooms, and were isolated from their children soon after delivery.
An October case report also describes a baby born to a mother with asymptomatic COVID-19 who had IgG antibodies but a negative COVID test, demonstrating “passive immunity” across the placenta. In a sense, this is expected, as IgG antibodies to other bacteria and viruses are known to protect fetuses and newborns from infectious diseases.
” This is why some vaccines, such as whooping cough and influenza, are recommended during pregnancy. IgG antibodies rise in fetuses later in pregnancy, especially after the 36th week of gestation »Explains Jessica Madden, pediatrician and neonatologist. However, more research is needed to understand how disease severity affects antibody levels, how timing of infection during pregnancy plays a role, and how strong and long-lasting babies’ presumed immunity is.
A study in Wuhan, China, involving 24 COVID-19 positive pregnant women, suggested that newborns’ immunity wanes rapidly. Additionally, Madden says, we don’t know whether having COVID-19 before pregnancy will provide IgG immunity to fetuses conceived after a mother has already recovered from the virus.
Protective antibodies present in breast milk
Breast milk from mothers recently infected with COVID-19 is also believed to offer some protection to newborns. An uneven study published in September showed that out of 37 milk samples, none contained detectable viruses, but all contained antibodies believed to neutralize COVID-19.
This is also not entirely surprising, as certain antibodies in breast milk are known to help protect babies from various diseases such as measles when they are too young to receive a vaccine. Breastfeeding is also associated with a lower risk of conditions such as diabetes, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome, and some gastrointestinal diseases.
These benefits outweigh the still invisible risks of breastfeeding with COVID-19, according to leading health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as long as new mothers with the disease take care. precautions such as wearing a mask and washing hands and breasts before breastfeeding.
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