Since then, both mother and baby have recovered, but evidence suggests that the coronavirus may be transmitted in utero.
The first proven case of COVID-19 transmitted in the womb occurred with a mother and baby in Paris, doctors report. The newborn baby developed inflammation in the brain within a few days of birth, which occurred after the virus crossed the placental barrier and established an infection before birth. Both mother and baby have since recovered, but this is still very serious news for pregnant people worldwide.
The case study, published in Nature Communications, followed the birth of several babies with Covid-19, which doctors suspect contracted the virus in the womb. Until now, this possibility had not been ruled out, and doctors were working to determine if it could be transmitted through the uterus or childbirth.
The researchers reported a case that suggests that Covid-19 can be transmitted from a pregnant woman to a fetus. The good news is that it is very rare, and the baby and mother recovered. https://t.co/R7dETE5BEL
– The New York Times (@nytimes) July 15, 2020
“Unfortunately, there is no question about transmission in this case,” said Daniele De Luca, medical director of pediatrics and neonatal critical care at Antoine Béclère hospital in Paris. “Doctors must be aware that this can happen. It’s not common, that’s for sure, but it can happen and should be considered in clinical training. “
According to The New York Times, there have been isolated cases of newborns testing positive for the virus, but there was not a sufficient amount of evidence that the babies were infected through the womb. In the Paris case, Dr. De Luca said, the team was able to analyze the placenta, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood, and mother and baby blood. In other similar cases, samples of everything necessary for pathology were too difficult to obtain in the midst of a pandemic in which hospital personnel attended emergencies, making it impossible to determine the transfer of the uterus with respect to the virus, up to this time. case.
Tests for the Paris baby indicated that “the virus reaches the placenta and replicates there,” said Dr. De Luca, according to the Times. It can then be transmitted to a fetus, who “may become infected and have symptoms similar to those of adult Covid-19 patients.”
Dr. De Luca tells him The Guardian that while it is valid that pregnant women are increasingly concerned about the pandemic, they should reassure themselves: pregnancy is a “controlled” environment.
“In most cases there will be no harm to the baby,” said Dr. De Luca. “There are many things that we can do, but we cannot close our eyes and say that this will never happen.”
