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And then there's the situation where the mom is COVID-19 positive, but the baby is found to be potentially COVID-19 negative or undetermined. And in that situation, protecting the baby becomes very, very important. Now that doesn't mean that a mom can't decide that she wants to be physically present with her baby and be in physical contact. And if that's the case, considering things like how important skin to skin contact is, we know that skin to skin contact immediately at delivery can increase the success of breastfeeding. It can help the baby maintain body temperature. It can increase bonding between mom and baby. And we also know that there's a lot of potential downstream benefits from that skin to skin physical contact with mom at the time of delivery that we're not even thinking about. We know that there's potential reduction in diseases or chronic diseases for that baby later in life, if they've had skin to skin contact at delivery. So it's really an emerging science in terms of what is best for baby and mom at the time of delivery. And COVID-19 is putting a little bit of a kink in some of those scientific findings.
And then there's the situation where the mom is COVID-19 positive, but the baby is found to be potentially COVID-19 negative or undetermined. And in that situation, protecting the baby becomes very, very important. Now that doesn't mean that a mom can't decide that she wants to be physically present with her baby and be in physical contact. And if that's the case, considering things like how important skin to skin contact is, we know that skin to skin contact immediately at delivery can increase the success of breastfeeding. It can help the baby maintain body temperature. It can increase bonding between mom and baby. And we also know that there's a lot of potential downstream benefits from that skin to skin physical contact with mom at the time of delivery that we're not even thinking about. We know that there's potential reduction in diseases or chronic diseases for that baby later in life, if they've had skin to skin contact at delivery. So it's really an emerging science in terms of what is best for baby and mom at the time of delivery. And COVID-19 is putting a little bit of a kink in some of those scientific findings.
Following those guidelines, it's important when a baby is delivered to a positive COVID-19 mom that a discussion takes place and that the hospital looks at that situation in a case by case situation and a shared decision making. So as the mom, you get to be involved in that decision and to make those decisions for whether you want to be immediately together with your baby, if you're COVID-19 positive, or whether you want to have some form of physical separation from your baby, which may potentially decrease the risk of transmission to your baby, if your baby is not born positive for COVID-19. So there's the situation where the baby is born positive for COVID-19 and the mom is positive. And in that case, of course, there's really no increased risk to having physical contact with the baby and a lot of benefits.
"If you decide that you want to have close physical contact with your baby and you're known to be COVID positive at the time of delivery, it is still possible to do so. Again, according to CDC guidelines, and according to the guidelines that the hospital has in place, what is really important is that if breastfeeding is undertaken, that the mom wears a mask and uses hand sanitizer and good cleanliness and good hand washing before and after breastfeeding the baby and making sure that the transmission to the baby, which is through respiratory secretions, so breathing or mucous membrane contact with the baby, kissing the baby, for example, that is how COVID-19 has spread. And so reducing that risk, should you decide to breastfeed your baby and be in close physical contact with your baby means using a mask properly using proper personal protective equipment and using good hand washing or good hand sanitizer with the appropriate amount of alcohol in the hand sanitizer. And of course the hospital would be your best guide in that situation. But the bottom line is that yes, you can have physical contact with your baby if you're COVID positive and you decide that that is the route to go, it may not be the best route for all families. And some families will decide to have another caregiver, potentially the other parent care for the baby. Another parent who may be COVID negative care for the baby throughout that newborn period, so that the risk to the baby is much lower. And the physical separation from COVID positive mom that has just delivered the baby may be offset by that bonding experience with the other parent, thereby creating a really low risk of COVID transmission to the newborn."
"Another choice may be to actually breastfeed the baby. Now, if you have another care provider feeding the baby, you would want to be doing that with breast milk, through a breast pump and expressing breast milk, because that's going to be best for baby. If you're able to do that. But if you decide you want to be the person to physically breastfeed the baby, then you want to make sure you reduce the risk of transmission as much as possible. And the way to do that is through personal protective equipment, essentially for you as the mom to be wearing a face mask properly covering mouth and nose, because transmission to a newborn is through respiratory droplets, mucus membranes. And you want to make sure that you sanitize your hands and, or wash your hands appropriately before and after breastfeeding the baby. And if you choose to go that route, your risk of transmission to the baby may still be positive, but maybe reduced significantly so that you're protecting your baby as much as possible. We know there's a lot of benefit to breastfeeding the baby in terms of bonding in terms of immuno protection or protecting the baby from future infections, you may even be transmitting some COVID-19 antibodies to the baby that may possibly, we don't have these answers yet, but may possibly help the baby fight any infection that he or she gets. We also know some of the benefits of breastfeeding around epigenetics, meaning what the baby's health will be like long-term. And so if you decide to go that route, make sure you're fully informed and you do the best that you can to reduce the risk to your baby. Now, if your baby is found to be COVID-19 positive and you're COVID-19 positive, then it doesn't matter so much in terms of what you do and full contact is completely acceptable. So again, check out the center for disease control guidelines, they're emerging all the time and make sure you have these important vital conversations with your healthcare provider, your healthcare team, and the hospital where you plan to deliver your baby."
We know that COVID-19 is likely going to be around for a very long time and we have to live our lives. And if you are pregnant and you do contract COVID-19, we know the risks are probably low. That there's a really good chance everything will go just fine. We have however, seen some science to show that in pregnancy, the severity of the infection could be worse. In other words, if you're pregnant with COVID-19, you could end up with more severe of an infection. We have seen an increase in risk for mechanical ventilation or being needed to put on a ventilator. And we have seen increased risk of admission to the intensive care unit for pregnant women who contract COVID-19. We've also seen some rare cases of vertical transmission, meaning transmission from a COVID positive mom to her baby in utero. And we haven't yet sorted out all the details of how that transmission or how often that transmission does occur. So the bottom line is if you don't have COVID-19 and you're pregnant, do your very best not to get it. If you do have COVID-19 or you contract COVID-19 during pregnancy, make sure that you definitely contact your healthcare provider. If you're concerned, or you have symptoms, you get testing so that you can know if you're positive and you can get the appropriate care and surveillance that will help mitigate any of those risks of severe infection.
If you deliver your baby and you are found to be COVID-19 positive, there's really two choices. And you can make those decisions in conjunction with your healthcare team and the hospital where you have delivered your baby. There are very important discussions to have in advance of that decision-making so that you know what the hospital guidelines are, what the CDC or center for disease control guidelines are at the time of your delivery. This science is emerging and we are gathering information very, very quickly about what the risk of transmission to a newborn would be. But your decision is essentially twofold. First to maintain physical separation from the baby if they're COVID-19 negative and you're COVID-19 positive, and to have another care provider, potentially the other parent take over that role of physical bonding and skin to skin, contact, and diapering and bathing, and really taking care of that baby. And that may be an opportunity for the other parent to develop that relationship with the baby. If you decide as the mom that, that physical separation and reducing risk of transmission to the baby is so important to you that that's the route you want to go.
If you're pregnant and you're concerned about COVID-19 you absolutely should be taking every possible precaution not to contract COVID-19. So if you're COVID-19 negative and you're pregnant, make sure that you do whatever you can to avoid getting that infection. You want to make sure that you're self isolating as much as you can. Staying home, working from home, staying away from anyone who may be able to transmit the infection. And in a lot of cases, transmission is asymptomatic. Meaning you don't necessarily know who has the infection. You could be out grocery shopping or doing errands, and you could come across someone who may transmit COVID-19 to you and you would never know it. So the more that you can stay away, the more that you can socially distance, the more that you can work from home or stay home and self isolate the better. And if you do have to go out, making sure that you do everything you can to protect yourself with proper face covering with hand sanitizer, or washing your hands, washing your hands for at least 20 to 30 seconds, using a hand sanitizer that has approximately 60 to 95% alcohol component. And making sure that you take off any clothes after you get home, if that's appropriate to do so. And just disinfecting surfaces and being careful what you touch.
If you're heading into the latter part of your pregnancy, and you're starting to think about delivering your baby in these times of potential risk for COVID-19, there's a few things for you to consider. It is never too early for you to start to talk to the hospital where you plan to deliver, or even do some research around what hospitals are doing to prevent risk. So the CDC is continually evolving their guidelines and they are available at the CDC center for disease control web pages. And because this is a novel virus and science is continually emerging, you are strongly recommended to stay in close contact with your obstetrical care provider and your practitioner, and make sure that you understand what current guidelines are because they are changing day to day.
We also really don't understand completely the risk of transmission after delivery from a COVID positive mom to a baby. And we also don't understand the severity of the risk for the baby. Should they become COVID positive? It may be that they carry some of mom's antibodies and they may have a less severe infection. However, all of that is emerging and all of that is really unclear at this time.
What we know now about delivering a baby in these times of COVID-19 are that it's really important to weigh risk and benefit. So contacting the hospital where you plan to deliver, or even doing some research around which hospital you would like to deliver at, will give you a lot of information. Some of the things to consider are the risk of vertical transmission of COVID-19, meaning that an infected mother giving the infection to a baby in utero, it has happened, but it is thought to be rare. So if you are infected with COVID-19, it is absolutely essential that you talk to your doctor about the risk of transmission to your baby. And should you be positive for COVID-19 during your delivery? Things will probably go very well, but you need to be very, very prepared and you need to have yourself understanding what the hospital protocols are going to be.
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