COVID-19 and Babies: Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Pregnant moms should protect themselves from COVID-19

• Avoid people who are sick or who have been exposed to the virus.
• Clean your hands often using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily.

Risks to the pregnancy and to the baby

• Pregnant moms have had a higher risk of severe illness when infected with viruses from the same family as COVID-19 and other viral respiratory infections, such as influenza.
• It is always important for pregnant people to protect themselves from illnesses.

Mother-to-child transmission

• Mother-to-child transmission of corona virus during pregnancy is unlikely, but after birth a newborn is susceptible to person-to-person spread.
• A very small number of babies have tested positive for the virus shortly after birth. However, it is unknown if these babies got the virus before or after birth.
• The virus has not been detected in amniotic fluid, breast milk, or other maternal samples.

Breastfeeding if you have COVID-19

• Breast milk provides protection against many illnesses and is the best source of nutrition for most infants.
• You, along with your family and healthcare providers, should decide whether and how to start or continue breastfeeding.
• In limited studies, COVID-19 has not been detected in breast milk; however we do not know for sure whether mothers with COVID-19 can spread the virus via breast milk.

If you are sick and choose to direct breastfeed

• Wear a facemask and wash your hands before each feeding.
• If the you are sick and choose to express breast milk:
• Express breast milk to establish and maintain milk supply.
• A dedicated breast pump should be provided.
• Wash hands before touching any pump or bottle parts and before expressing breast milk.
• Follow recommendations for proper pump cleaning after each use, cleaning all parts that come into contact with breast milk.
• If possible, consider having someone who is well feed the expressed breast milk to the infant.

Snippet from: cdc.gov/Pregnancy and Breastfeeding