A modest study suggests that mothers who had COVID-19 when they gave birth may be able to improve their infant’s burgeoning immunity against the virus through breastfeeding.
Breast milk is well known for containing maternal antibodies that can help protect newborns from illnesses as their immune systems mature.
Breastfeeding By Covid-Positive Mothers May Help Safeguard New-Borns
The moment one gets infected with the virus of Corona, she may have much confusion about breastfeeding the baby. However, a group of specialists has found that there is no effect on a baby even if the mother is infected with this virus.
It is seen that mothers who breastfeed their young can help them get better health and stay against various infections and diseases over a period with its growth and age.
Antibodies transmitted from mother to baby—both in the womb and through breastfeeding—provide “passive” immune protection, allowing the baby’s immune system to grow while the mother’s antibodies stand guard.
According to a new study, nursing following COVID-19 may also help kids develop a more “active” immune response: Breastfed infants’ saliva contained antibodies aimed against the SARS-CoV-2 “spike” protein by the age of two months, according to the study.
“For the first time, we have shown that the mother can also initiate the active immune response of the baby through the transfer of antigen-antibody immune-complexes,” stated senior researcher Dr. Rita Carsetti of Rome’s Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital.
She stated that those “complexes” are maternal antibodies coupled to the spike protein. The findings do not indicate whether the antibodies found in saliva protect newborns from becoming sick if they come into contact with SARS-CoV-2.
Dr. Tina Tan believes they could aid in the defense of a virus that has entered a baby’s eyes or nose. She is a representative for the Infectious Diseases Society of America and a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University in Chicago.
Getting vaccinated during pregnancy is the best way to pass on protective antibodies to babies: the antibodies cross the placenta and reach the fetal blood.
The majority of the infants in this study had no antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in their blood.
No one knew at the start of the pandemic if COVID-19-positive moms might spread the virus to their newborns through breast milk.
Following further research, it was discovered that this was not the case, and recommendations now advise COVID-19-positive moms to continue breastfeeding (or begin if they have just given birth) while taking measures such as wearing a mask.
The present study included 22 children born to moms who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at delivery and was published online Nov. 3 in JAMA Network Open. Only one infant tested positive for the infection shortly after birth, and another did so a few days later.
Carsetti’s team discovered that breastfed newborns have antibodies against the spike protein in their saliva at two months of age. This was not the case for babies who were solely fed formula.
The researchers discovered that all of the critical complexes—antibodies with spike protein attached to them—were present in the breast milk samples of the mothers. Two days after delivery, levels were notably high; by two months, they had dropped.
According to Dr. Lori Feldman-Winter, the study is significant since it is the first to show that breastfeeding can “actively encourage” an infant’s immune system to produce salivary antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
“During the first few days of life, human milk is known to play a role in programming the infant’s immune system,” she explained. “As a result, after COVID infection, mothers’ milk activated their infants’ immune systems, causing them to develop COVID-specific salivary antibodies, whereas formula-fed infants did not.”
