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Amandine, who tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) just before giving birth, and Francois, in protective face masks, are photographed with their newborn daughter Mahaut in childbearing at CHIREC Delta Hospital in Brussels, Belgium , April 25, 2020. REUTERS / Yves Herman
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A pregnant Belgian woman diagnosed with the coronavirus gave birth to a healthy baby, but now she must learn to care for her newborn by wearing and sleeping in a protective mask.
The baby Mahaut was born on April 23 in Brussels by caesarean section due to previous complications not related to COVID-19 respiratory disease, but which led to the mother Amandine test, although she showed no symptoms.
“They told me they would test me for COVID-19 and I thought it would be negative. The next day, my gynecologist called me to say he was positive, I almost fell out of my chair, “Amandine, who asked not to give her last name, told Reuters.
Wearing a blue medical mask lying on a hospital bed and holding her baby against her chest, Amandine said it had been difficult giving birth alone.
“I was so scared for her … it was a very peculiar delivery, I only saw her for two minutes,” said Amandine, explaining how she was transferred to a surgery unit at the hospital to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. .
“We count our lucky stars and hope things go well for them,” said Amandine, with her husband Francois, who was also wearing a mask, now by her side. However, her other two children cannot visit her due to the risk of coronavirus.
The baby has not yet been examined, but it will be, doctors said.
The new World Health Organization has said that new mothers who test positive for coronavirus should be encouraged to care for and breastfeed their newborns in the normal manner, provided they maintain strict hygiene.
Despite fears about possible mother-to-baby transmission, a study of pregnant women in China who had tested positive for the virus, published in the Lancet magazine in mid-February, reported that there was no reliable evidence of the so-called vertical transmission. to unborn babies
Reports by Christian Levaux and Yves Herman, Ros Russell Edition
