Is It Safe For A Coronavirus Infected Mother To Breastfeed Her Baby?

Coronavirus: The first and foremost tip that any doctor would give a new mother would be to give her baby as much breast milk as possible. Formula milk is totally banned unless a mother is unable to produce sufficient milk for her child. The benefits of breast milk are aplenty, most importantly being increasing the immunity of the child. So as per doctors, the breastfeeding benefits overshadow the risks associated with the virus being transferred from mother to child via breast milk.

As per doctors, there is no evidence to establish that a virus-infected mother can transmit it to her child through her breast milk. In fact, experts have already sent breast milk samples of coronavirus infected mothers to the laboratory to check its effects and the good news is the samples turned negative for the infection.

But like we said earlier too, as things stand, the data and the cases studies are limited so it is better to exercise caution and follow the advice of the doctor.

Does it mean, when a pregnant woman with coronavirus gives birth to a child, she will be isolated from her baby? Doctors say that mental trauma of separating a newborn from its mother outweigh the risk of viral transmission, so doctors feel it's best to keep the mother and child together, regardless of the mother's health condition.

So, go on to give your baby the much-needed breast milk. We all know that people with low immunity are at greater risk of contracting the infection. So why take a chance with the baby? However, like we always say, the doctor knows best. And this can be the case by case basis. So a doctor will advise what is best for you considering your health conditions.