Scientists Question The Need To Isolate Newborns From Mothers With COVID-19

Scientists question the need to isolate newborns from mothers with COVID-19

According to a number of American breastfeeding and midwifery experts, there is now no reason to believe that isolating an infant from a mother with COVID-19 is strictly required. In addition, the costs of separation stress can be higher.

Photo: _Nezemnaya_

To date, there is no consensus on whether it is worth separating a coronavirus-infected mother and her newborn child. Theoretically, isolation reduces the risk of infection for a baby, but does not completely exclude it, since he can become infected after discharge from the hospital, including from other family members. In the world, there have been isolated cases of severe COVID-19 in infants, as well as one case of infant death in the United States. However, doctors are forced to reinsure themselves, since no one knows whether the coronavirus will have delayed consequences.

But weaning, deprivation of bodily and emotional contact does not have the best effect on the mother and newborn. That is why the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that doctors independently decide on the temporary isolation of a newborn, taking into account all factors. Women who have been isolated for various reasons are advised to express milk to feed their baby.

Alison Stube, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said the need to separate newborns and mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 has yet to be proven. She also stated that babies who did not receive skin-to-skin contact with their mothers immediately after birth had higher heart and respiratory rates and lower blood glucose levels. In addition, breastfeeding reduces the risk of serious respiratory infections in children, including pneumonia.

In any case, says Strube, the separation of mother and child will become a great stress for both and can make recovery more difficult.