Uncommon for pregnant women to infect baby with COVID-19: Study
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The findings show that neonatal Covid-19 infection is uncommon, and also commonly asymptomatic in those babies who are affected.
It is uncommon for Covid-19 to spread from a mother to her newborn child during pregnancy, according to a study which says the rate of infection is no greater when the baby is born vaginally, breastfed, or allowed contact with the parent.
The findings are published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The study was conducted by experts from the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, who undertook a review of 49 studies looking into this topic.
The studies reviewed included 666 neonates (newborn babies) and 655 women (as some women delivered twins). Of the women who delivered their babies vaginally, only eight out of 292, that is, 2.7 per cent had a baby which tested positive for Covid-19.
Of the 364 women who had a caesarean, 20, that is, 5.3 per cent had a baby which tested positive for Covid-19.
According to the scientists, including those from the University of Nottingham in the UK, early reports had suggested that in order to reduce the risk of mother-baby Covid-19 spread, it was safer to have a caesarean, and isolate the baby from the mother at birth, as well as to formula feed the newborn. However the researchers said there was very little evidence to support these guidelines.
The findings show that neonatal Covid-19 infection is uncommon, and also commonly asymptomatic in those babies who are affected.