Can I pass COVID-19 to my baby by breastfeeding? Should I breastfeed during the pandemic? Do I need to take extra precautions? These are all legitimate questions for women who give birth in this period of COVID-19 epidemic. It is for the latter, in particular, that the Academy of Medicine gives its recommendations based on this observation: in the event of Covid-19, current data exclude the passage of a virus into breast milk. The body mentions two situations that can arise, the first being that the mother having presented SARS-CoV-2 infection during the last trimester of pregnancy is cured by the time of childbirth.
Under these conditions, she should be encouraged to breastfeed. Indeed, “the antibodies pass into breast milk and protect her child. Based on this observation, in the event of Covid-19, current scientific data excludes the passage of a viable and contaminating virus into breast milk. », Notes the Academy. But in the event that the mother is infected with Covid-19 during breastfeeding, three questions then arise: can she continue to breastfeed her child and under what conditions? Should the child be separated from its mother if breastfeeding is accepted and continued? If the mother is receiving drug treatment, should we suspend breastfeeding or throw out the milk for the duration of the treatment?
Mum with Covid-19: precautions for breastfeeding
In this regard, “in the absence of evidence-based data, the expert opinions relayed by the French Society of Neonatology provide answers to the first two questions. She adds. These being that a mother with Covid-19 may continue to breast-feed if asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. But if women with “confirmed or suspected” COVID-19 can breastfeed if they wish, some precautions should be taken because the child should not be. in contact with his mother as long as it remains contagious: some protective measures vis-à-vis the child are essential.
What are they ? Experts recommend wearing a surgical mask but also a gown, changed at each feeding, thorough hand washing and cleaning and disinfection of the nipples, a new hand disinfection with hydro-alcoholic gel before picking up the child and a new hand washing after feeding. The Academy however insists on the importance of breastfeeding, which is why there is, according to it, no reason to put an end to this practice because of SARS-CoV-2. “In addition to its advantages nutritional and immune systems for infants, breastfeeding maintains and develops the mother-child relationship established during pregnancy. », She specifies.
Finally, she would like to recall that the only drug treatment justified in a mother presenting an asymptomatic or little symptomatic of Covid-19 is paracetamol. “For a conventional dosage, the concentrations ingested by the child are approximately 0,1% of the dose ingested by the mother, therefore present no danger and do not require interrupting breastfeeding. », She concludes. Note that these recommendations are similar to those given in May by the World Health Organization (WHO), which also believes that “the many benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the potential risks transmission of COVID-19 and associated disease. “