As a matter of fact, medical researchers are trying to investigate whether COVID-19 is able to pass through breast feeding and infect the baby. The information received so far shows that breast feeding is safe to your baby even if you are COVID-19 patient.
You must remember that for baby’s nutrition, breast milk is one of the best sources and it helps to protect your babies from infection, which includes infection of lungs, ears and digestive system. Therefore, having COVID-19 should not stop you from feeding your baby.
However, it is important that you must consult your ob-gyn and other professionals of health care.
Mothers who are having symptoms of COVID-19 and who want to breast feed their new born baby must take following steps so that the virus will not spread to your baby.
- You must wear Makrite N95 respiratory masks, whenever you go near your baby. These masks of different sizes are available with Custom Earth Promos.
- Before you touch your baby, you must wash your hands thoroughly.
- Also, before you touch the feeding bottles or pumps all those parts must be thoroughly cleaned after using them.
- It is necessary that baby must be kept in nursery and remains separated from mother.
- A dedicated breast pump must be used and all the standard precautions must be followed.
- A healthy caregiver must be present who must take milk from mother and feed the child.
- The COVID-19 infected mother should always wear face mask and practice all the necessary hygiene of their hand when they go near the baby or touch anything of the baby.
- If the woman and her healthy baby, who otherwise do not require any neonatal or maternal critical care, may be kept together during immediate postpartum period. In case soap and waters are not available, then she should use certain hand sanitizer having minimum 60% isopropyl alcohol.
- For the infant child, separate isolation room must be available and both mother and child must be kept under investigation.
- In certain cases where new-born child with his/her infected mother have to be placed in same room in hospital. It may either be in accordance to wishes of mother or if unavoidable because of hospital facility limitations.
Then it is better to consider using physical barriers like:
- Curtain between mother and new-born
- Keeping new-born at least six feet distance from the infected mother.
If isolation facility is available then it is necessary to ensure that the facility should fully be equipped will all the arrangements required for baby and the mother.
Personal protective equipment
All the staff who are caring for either suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients must follow all the strict precautionary measures like following the necessary protocol of Donning/Doffing in the Postnatal Ward.
The entire healthcare workers present in the postnatal ward should use proper face mask, goggles, face shields etc. and perform their adequate hand hygiene always before and after they try to examine each baby who are in their care.