Tasaduq Hussain
Srinagar, May 12: Medical experts Tuesday said that it was safe to breastfeed the baby as the pregnant women doesn't transmit the virus to unborn baby stating that there is no study or evidence to prove that as on date.
People in Jammu and Kashmir were having apprehensions that the virus was getting transmitted from a mother to her unborn and or new born baby through breastfeeding and maternal fetal transmission.
However, medical experts have ruled out any chances of transmission from a mother to her baby. “Be it during breastfeeding or even when the baby is in womb, there is no such study or evidence that from any positive patient the virus gets transmitted. But mother needs to take precautions when breastfeeding a baby,” they said.
Valley's renowned flu expert, Dr Nisar- ul-Hassan said that it's totally safe to breastfeed the baby and the woman doesn't transmit the virus to unborn baby as there is no evidence of maternal foetal transmission.
He said that as of now they don't have any evidence to prove that virus gets transmitted from mother to foetus, however, a number of pregnant women need to be studied for this as initial study says there is no evidence about foetal transmission of breastfeeding transmission.
“Even here we don't have proof of maternal foetal transmission. Few babies delivered in Kashmir have tested negative for novel coronavirus despite mother being positive stating that the pregnant women gets very mild disease and doesn't transmit it to unborn or new born baby,” he said.
He also said that mothers' milk is so essential for baby's growth and immunity, long term consequences and many other important things.
“Breastfeeding protects the baby from most of the diseases especially infections now if the mother is COVID positive she should breastfeed the baby using protective gears like, triple layer surgical mask and wash hands appropriately when handling baby and it's also safe to keep baby in same room at a distance of at least 1 meter,” Dr Nisar recommended.
Dr Nisar said that if the mother has severe disease you will have to extract the milk by way of breast suction pump and the equipment used should be sterilized properly after every use though the virus is not found in breast milk as on date.
He also said that if the baby gets the virus it has been seen that the children are not getting severely affected especially the infants get asymptomatic or they have a very mild disease since no infant has died so far due to this virus.
