Early research shows that vaccinated pregnant mothers transmit Covid-19 antibodies to their children via breast milk and utero.
Numerous preliminary studies show that pregnant women who received an mRNA vaccine, such as those from Pfizer or Moderna, had Covid-19 antibodies in their umbilical cord blood.
In another study, antibodies were found in breast milk, meaning that immunity can be transferred to children during pregnancy and after birth.
The Vice President of Obstetrics and Quality at Duke University, Brenna Hughes, tells The Washington Post that some not yet peer-reviewed articles ‘are the first to show what we were hoping for, that is, that these vaccines could possibly be protective by antibodies transmitted to the fetus’.
She added that “concerns about possible risks and harm could possibly prove the opposite. In fact, it could be proved that the vaccines actually provide protection to the developing fetus”.
A health care worker in South Florida was vaccinated three weeks before giving birth to a girl with Covid-19 antibodies, CBS News reports.
Dr. Paul Giblert and Dr. Chad Rudnick wrote in a preprint study that “antibodies in a newborn retinal specimen are detectable after only a single dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, so there is a potential for protecting and reducing the risk of Sars CoV-2 with vaccination of mothers ”.
One preliminary, not yet peer-reviewed study examined 131 vaccinated women, 84 of whom were pregnant. The study showed that pregnant women had similar immune responses and that it was likely to receive as much protection against the vaccine as women who were not pregnant.
Dr. Andrea Edlow, a co-author of the study, who co-authored the study’s Fetal Medicine Specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said: “Vaccine-generated antibodies have been detected in the umbilical cord blood of all ten babies [were] delivered during our study period. ”
She added: “Our data suggest that receiving both shots of the mRNA vaccine leads to better transfer of antibodies to newborns.”
The next phase of studies is to find out how effective the antibodies are for newborns and how long they provide protection.
Denise Jamieson, chair of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory University, said The Washington Post that it is’ important to remember that the main reason why we are so focused on vaccinating pregnant women for Covid’s is because we know that mothers are at increased risk for serious diseases’, adding that it’s babies too ‘ have an increased risk.