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Punjab: Cases of new born baby having Covid-19 inside mother’s womb

Four newborns delivered by women infected by Covid-19 have tested positive for the virus at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Ludhiana. Their samples were collected for testing within 24 hours of their birth. A neonatologist from DMCH said these cases were the first of their kind amid the second wave, adding that the new strain might be the reason behind suspected transmission of the infection from the mother’s placenta to the baby.

“Since the pandemic began last year, at least a hundred deliveries of Covid-positive mothers took place in our hospital but the babies tested negative. The infection did not transfer from mothers to newborns but in this second wave, there have been four such cases where the babies also tested positive,” said Dr Kamaldeep Arora, associate professor, division of neonatology, DMCH, Ludhiana. Dr Arora said that since the samples were taken within 24 hours of their birth, it indicates that they got infected inside the womb.

He further said that the decision of newborns and Covid positive mothers living together or not is often left on the families and in some cases, mothers only prefer living separately from babies till they test negative, but separating mothers and newborns is not recommended.

The silver lining however is that the newborns have recovered and their recovery has also established that even if mother or baby is Covid positive, breastfeeding should not be stopped. If a mother cannot feed the baby in her lap, the breast milk has to be fed with spoon. It is called Express Breast Milk (EBM).

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