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The baby also developed strong symptoms like fever and there were signs of cytokine storm, suggesting severe inflammation. @Shutterstock
Can pregnant women infected with the novel coronavirus pass the infection to their unborn child? There are cases of transmission of COVID-19 from mother to baby during pregnancy, but it occurs rarely. The Sassoon General Hospital in Pune, Maharashtra, has claimed to have recorded India's first case of "vertical transmission" of the coronavirus infection. Vertical transmission refers to the passing of the virus/ infection from a mother to the child in the uterus, through the placenta. A baby girl recently born in the hospital was tested positive for COVID-19.
According to Sassoon General Hospital's paediatrics department head Dr Aarti Kinikar, the mother had COVID-19 symptoms for a week before her delivery a news agency reported.
After the baby girl's birth, swabs of the child's nose, the umbilical cord and placenta were tested and the reports came out positive, Dr Aarti Kinikar told PTI.
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After two to three days of birth, the baby also developed strong symptoms like fever and there were signs of cytokine storm, suggesting severe inflammation, she said.
This is believed to be the first case of "vertical transmission" of the coronavirus infection in the country.
Baby girl born with coronavirus in the US
Earlier this month, medics from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, US reported a similar case claiming it to be the "strongest evidence yet" for intrauterine vertical transmission of COVID-19.
According to the case report published in The Paediatric Infectious Disease Journal, a baby girl tested positive for COVID-19 just 24 hours after birth at the Medical Center. The mother was diagnosed with COVID-19 before the delivery. The baby, who was born premature, also developed fever and relatively mild breathing problems on the second day of her life. Test for coronavirus continued to come back positive for two weeks (14 days).
The researchers also found signs of tissue inflammation in the placenta and presence of coronavirus particles and a protein specific for COVID-19 in the fetal cells. This proves that the infection was transmitted in the womb, rather than during or after birth, the report noted.
Vaginal birth and breastfeeding are safe for mothers
Researchers, however, said that vertical transmission of COVID-19 from mother to baby during pregnancy is uncommon. A study published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, also confirmed the rate of infection is no greater when the baby is born vaginally, breastfed or allowed contact with the mother. The study also revealed that newborn babies who test positive for COVID-19 were mostly asymptomatic.
Experts from the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham conducted a systematic review of 49 studies that looked at the risks associated with COVID-19 and pregnancy. Together, the studies included 666 neonates (newborn babies) and 655 women (as some women delivered twins).
These findings showed that only eight out of 292 (2.7%) women who delivered their babies vaginally had a baby which tested positive for COVID-19. Total 364 women had a cesarean, out of which 20 (5.3%) had a baby which tested positive for COVID-19.
Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that the chance of newborn infection with COVID-19 is low and those babies who are affected are mostly asymptomatic. They also stressed that vaginal birth and breastfeeding are safe for mothers if they contract COVID-19.