- The first time a baby in Florida has the COVID-19 antibodies of her mother’s vaccine is reported.
- COVID-positive moms can also transmit antibodies to their babies in the womb.
- More research is needed on vaccines during pregnancy.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
A baby girl who was born three weeks after her mother received the first dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine has antibodies against the virus, a pre-printed article reported in February.
After she got the chance, the mother, a health worker in Florida, developed COVID-19 antibodies.
According to the authors of Florida Atlantic University, the test revealed that the antibodies were brought through the placenta to provide a possible protection to her future child.
While previous reports have shown how moms who have had COVID-19 can give birth to babies with antibodies, the authors believe it was the first to record how vaccines can do the same during pregnancy.
It is not clear how protective or long lasting the antibodies are.
Authors dr. Paul Gilbert and dr. Chad Rudnick calls their report a happy ‘opportunity study’ as they were able to find and follow a pregnant person who never tested positive for COVID but the vaccine late in pregnancy and early in development.
When the baby was born – ‘a powerful, healthy, long-term girl’, according to the newspaper, the doctors tested her cord blood for antibodies made from the vaccine, as well as other typical tests such as blood type.
They were able to detect COVID-19 IgG antibodies (the type that indicate recovery), indicating that the baby has some protection against the virus, but how much or how long it lasts is not clear. Future research should highlight if there is an ideal time for a pregnant person to be vaccinated to maximize the protection against the virus for her child.
According to the authors, their results were expected based on what is known about how the vaccine, and others recommended during pregnancy, such as the flu vaccine, work.
Previous research has shown that COVID-19 antibodies cross the placenta
Previous studies have suggested that COVID-positive mothers may transmit IgG antibodies to the virus in their womb.
For example, a March 2020 article by six women who tested positive for the virus found that five had elevated IgG antibodies, although none had COVID-19.
In an October report, a baby is also born to a mother with an asymptomatic COVID-19 who had IgG antibodies, but writes a negative COVID test, which shows a ‘passive immunity’ through the placenta the authors.
And in November, a woman in Singapore who had COVID-19 gave birth in March 2020 to a baby who has antibodies that appear to be protective against the virus.
Nevertheless, more research is needed to understand how the severity of the disease affects antibody levels, how the time of infection during pregnancy plays a role, and how strong and long-lasting infants’ perceived immunity is.
Even more research is needed on vaccinations in pregnant women, which were excluded from the first clinical trials. Although the shots are expected to be safe during pregnancy and no increase in complications has been reported, it will take time before thorough trial data is collected and published.
Until then, most professional and governmental organizations encourage pregnant people to make a decision that is right for them based on their occupation, distribution in their community, underlying health conditions, and other factors.
Whatever the choice is: ‘you have to feel that your decision is respected’, said dr. Jessica Madden, a pediatrician and neonatologist who serves as medical director of Aeroflow Breastpumps, told Insider earlier.