THE BEST ARTICLE ABOUT COVID-19 AND MATERNAL HEALTH
"Pregnant and Worried Amid COVID?" from Yale Medicine
This
ARTICLE
summarizes concerns about how COVID-19 is impacting women
who are pregnant or breastfeeding in Q&A format. Here are the key points:
Are pregnant women more likely to become infected with COVID-19?
No, the experience in China does not show that pregnant women are at a greater risk for contracting COVID-19 or at greater risk for severe illness compared to non-pregnant people the same age.
Can I pass COVID-19 to my fetus during pregnancy?
Although there is
limited information
at this point,
published data
in
scientific journals
so far is optimistic and does not show that COVID-19 can be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy. At this point, there is no data on the effects of COVID-19 in early pregnancy, but other coronaviruses have not been transmitted to or caused abnormalities in developing fetuses.
Can COVID-19 be transmitted during breastfeeding?
To date, there is no data to suggest that the virus can be passed to the baby through breast milk. Moreover, breast milk remains the best source of nutrition and protection against many illnesses.
However, a mother who tested positive for COVID-19 can transmit the virus through respiratory droplets or during direct contact. As a result, direct skin-to-skin contact is discouraged. Expressing breast milk with a manual or electric breast pump, then feeding to the infant by a healthy care provider using proper hand hygiene and clean bottles, is the preferred method of feeding the infant breast milk until the COVID-19 infection is resolved.
