- Of the 24 babies born to COVID-positive moms in Los Angeles County so far, none tested positive for the virus.
- The data supports most earlier findings suggesting it's unlikely pregnant women can pass on the virus in utero.
- Pregnant women are still considered a high-risk population for COVID-19, and babies can still acquire the virus through contact, but the symptoms are generally mild.
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Being pregnant is stressful enough. Being pregnant during the current pandemic — one that's raised more questions than answers as to how it affects moms-to-be and their children — compounds that stress many-fold.
But expectant mothers can take comfort in new data out of Los Angeles County, California, which found that while 134 pregnant women have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease the novel
Specifically, there have been 29 live births and one stillbirth among the COVID-positive women in the county. Of the 24 infants tested, none came back positive. The rest of the moms are presumably still pregnant.
"To all our brand-new residents of L.A. County, we're so happy to welcome you to our community," Barbara Ferrer, the county's public-health director, said May 11, according to the LA Times.
The data supports earlier research, almost all of which has suggested pregnant women can't pass on COVID-19 in utero. A Lancet study of nine pregnant women in Wuhan who had COVID-19, for example, found their babies tested negative. There was no evidence of the virus in breast milk, amniotic fluid, or cord blood, either.
And, of the 34 cases of babies born to women with COVID-19 that were discussed in a March 12 CDC seminar for medical professionals, none tested positive for the illness.
But a trio of studies out March 26 brought those conclusions into question, in part by showing how some babies still tested positive for COVID-19 when strict prevention measures were taken after birth.
There is no evidence that women can pass the virus to their newborns via breastmilk, and researchers are looking into whether the substance may even be protective against the disease.
Pregnant women are still considered high risk
Because pregnant women are at greater risk of severe morbidity and mortality from other respiratory infections like the flu, they "should be considered an at-risk population for COVID-19," according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
COVID-19 can also make it more likely for pregnant women to have complications, namely preterm birth, according to the CDC. It's unclear if the stillborn infant in LA was affected by the virus.
While babies and children still seem to be less vulnerable to the virus than adults, they can acquire the infection, presumably after birth. In a minority of cases, it can be serious.
In a study out March 17 of 2,000 kids in China who were diagnosed with COVID-19, researchers found that infants have the highest risk of developing severe or critical infections. Just over 10% of all infants in the study ended up in a severe condition, compared to 7% of kids aged one to five years old, 4% of six- to 10-year-olds, 4% of 11- to 15-year-olds, and 3% of older teenagers.
However, 90% of the children were either asymptomatic or had mild or moderate COVID-19 symptoms, like fever, fatigue, sore throat, cough, or shortness of breath.
Experts recommend pregnant women with COVID-19 plan to give birth in a hospital, where staff must follow CDC recommendations for managing them and their newborns to reduce the risk of transmission after birth. That may mean putting moms and their babies in separate isolation rooms, or keeping mom and newborn six feet apart.
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