A coronavirus positive woman has given birth to a baby at the AIIMS in Delhi and the baby is healthy and doing absolutely fine as of now, said official sources. The baby was born on Friday evening, which was a week early than the woman's expected date, according to Dr Neerja Bhatla, a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at AIIMS.
Dr Bhatla had led the team which carried out the delivery and said the baby boy was born through C-section and is doing fine so far.
The doctor was asked if the baby's sample will be taken for testing COVID-19 virus. To this, she said that the hospital staff is going to monitor his condition and look out for symptoms. So far the baby is doing fine. According to doctors, this is the first baby to be born to a coronavirus infected woman in Delhi.
It was on Thursday when the mother was tested positive for coronavirus. The woman was tested for the virus after her husband, a senior resident doctor working in the department of physiology at AIIMS, was found to be infected with the virus. The doctor's brother has also tested positive for the respiratory infection.
'The mother is asymptomatic, currently'
Because the baby needs the mother's feed, he is being kept with his mother. Another doctor stated that so far, there is no proof which suggests that the virus can be transmitted through breastfeeding. The doctor said the mother is also fine and though she has tested positive for COVID-19, she is asymptomatic at present.
A protocol has been prepared by the AIIMS for the care of COVID-19 infected pregnant woman patients. The WHO had earlier stated that if women with COVID-19 needs to breastfeed, they can do so but should practice hygiene during the feeding and wear a mask. Mothers will need to wash hands before and after touching the baby and routinely clean and disinfect surfaces they have touched.
It should be noted that no case has been reported of the virus transmitting through breastfeeding from anywhere in the world.
