Pregnant women with Covid-19 CAN give protective coronavirus antibodies to their child, the study finds
- U.S. researchers study more than 1,700 blood samples from mother and baby
- Eighty-three of these mothers had coronavirus antibodies in their system
- 72 (8%) of infants born to infected mothers also have Covid antibodies
Pregnant women infected with the coronavirus could potentially give antibodies to their unborn baby, according to a new study.
Researchers based in Philadelphia have found that Covid antibodies can be transmitted in the placenta of the unborn baby if the mother catches the virus during pregnancy.
The findings are a good sign for concerned prospective parents, but the researchers say they can not say with certainty that the newborn baby of an infected mother is ‘absolutely safe’ from Covid-19 because science is still evolving.
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Pregnant women infected with the coronavirus can give their unborn baby protective antibodies, a new study indicates
The study looked at antibodies in the mother’s blood samples as well as cord blood – from the placenta and the attached umbilical cord – immediately after delivery.
Umbilical cord blood is an accurate reflection of the blood of the newborn during birth.
Eighty-three women of the 1,471 women in the study, which took place between April 9 and August 8 last year, tested positive for Covid-19 and antibodies were found in the cord blood of 72 (87 percent) of their babies .
Eleven babies born to Covid-positive mothers who had no antibodies were tested negative for the virus.
“In this cohort study, maternal antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were transferred to asymptomatic as well as symptomatic infection during pregnancy across the placenta,” the researchers write in their study, published in JAMA Pediatrics.
The researchers also found that the baby inherited more antibodies if the mother had a large number of antibodies, while a mother with only a small number of immune cells would transmit less to her child.
The corresponding author, Dr Karen Puopolo, said: ‘This finding should be placed in the context of the fact that SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus.
‘The time between exposure to virus to mothers and the delivery of newborns was therefore never longer than three to four months in our study, and in most cases the time was shorter than that.
‘But there must also be enough time between maternal infection and childbirth so that the mother has the type of antibodies that cross the placenta and that the crossing can take place.
“We found that if the time between the exposure to the mother to the mother and the delivery was at least two to three weeks, we could detect antibodies in the newborn.”
According to researchers in Philadelphia, Covid antibodies can pass into the placenta of the unborn baby when the mother becomes pregnant (pregnant).
Researchers said their findings support the potential for antibodies obtained by the mother to protect their newborns against coronavirus infections.
Dr Puopolo said: ‘Our results mean that maternal antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 can cross the placenta effectively, and therefore our results show the potential for such maternal antibodies to be derived from neonatal protection against SARS-CoV-2. -infection.
‘Nothing in our work can change the way we currently care for pregnant women and their newborns. Our work cannot tell a woman that her newborn is absolutely safe for COVID-19.
“Work still needs to be done to determine what levels and types of antibodies protect newborns from SARS-CoV-2 infection, and how long these antibodies can last in the newborn circulation.”