The COVID-19 coronavirus that has infected over 150,000 people globally and killed over 6000 might not get transmitted from pregnant mother to newborn babies at birth, according to a recent study.
The study (which was published in the journal Frontiers in Paediatrics) by researchers at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology is the second study out of China in the last month that showed that mothers infected with the novel coronavirus didn¡¯t pass the virus on to the offspring.
The study was conducted in Wuhan¡¯s Union Hospital, where four infected women gave birth. In case you didn¡¯t remember, Wuhan in the Hubei province in China was the epicentre of the coronavirus that has halted our world today.
From the four babies, three were delivered through C-section whereas one mother adopted vaginal delivery. The study revealed that none of the infants experienced any serious symptoms that are commonly seen with COVID-19 like fever, cough etc.
The babies, however, were kept in isolated neonatal intensive care units. Moreover, instead of breastfeeding, they were fed formula.
Three out of the four babies tested negative for any kinds of respiratory infection. The mother of the fourth child denied permission for testing.
One of the newborns did experience minor breathing issue for around three days. However, doctors treated that with non-invasive mechanical ventilation.?
Out of the four, two babies (this included the one with respiratory issues) had body rashes that disappeared with time.
According to Yalan Liu, study co-author, Yalan Liu at Huazhong University, ¡°We are not sure the rash was due to the mother's COVID-19 infection.¡±
The doctor further added, ¡°To avoid infections caused by perinatal and postnatal transmission, our obstetricians think that C-section may be safer. Only one pregnant mother adopted vaginal delivery because of the onset of the labour process. The baby was normal. Maybe vaginal delivery is OK. It needs further study.¡±
All four infants are healthy and their mothers have also fully recovered from the novel coronavirus.?
Liu also mentioned the fact that during the SARS and MERS outbreak -- two other deadly coronaviruses that affected China and Middle East respectively -- no evidence was found of viral transmission from a mother to her child, however, they were associated with critical maternal illness, spontaneous abortion, or even maternal death."