Can COVID-19 transfer from an infected mother to her baby while she is pregnant?

A hospital in Pune has reportedly claimed to have the country’s first case of vertical transmission of the novel coronavirus, which means the virus was transferred from an infected mother to her child through the placenta.

The Sassoon General Hospital in Pune's paediatrics department head Dr Aarti Kinikar told news agency Press Trust of India that in this unique case the woman had symptoms for just a week before the delivery. The Indian Council of Medical Research has made it mandatory to test all pregnant patients for COVID-19, but Dr Kinikar says the woman’s tests were all negative.

After the child was born, the infant was tested with a swab of her nose and the umbilical cord and placenta were tested too and there the reports came as positive.

Reportedly, the baby had lesser antibodies but they were quite high in the mother.

A cytokine storm, as FIT had earlier reported, is an overreaction of the immune system that causes blockages and organ failures. Healthcare workers in India and abroad are noting this reaction in COVID-19 patients.

Dr Kinikar said the baby girl was kept in intensive care and she recovered after two weeks. Both the mother and child have now been discharged.

ICMR Guidelines on Vertical Transmission

On 13 April, the ICMR had said that it may be possible for pregnant mothers to pass on the virus to their newborn.

Chinese researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that on 26 March a pregnant, infected woman in Wuhan delivered a positive baby girl. Since the newborn tested positive both for the virus and antibodies against it, researchers believed transition happened during pregnancy.

ICMR has suggested some precautionary guidelines to follow to protect the mother and new baby.