[ad_1]
MANILA – Rozen Nava wiped away tears as she recalled that she was unable to touch or breastfeed her baby just after giving birth on September 9.
“The one you say was the first hug when the baby came out. What I expected would be closer to me. Then you will be photographed. There is no such case, ”he sadly recalled in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
(What they call the first touch after giving birth … I was hoping they would bring my baby to me and then we would get a photo. But that didn’t happen).
She tested positive for COVID at 8 months pregnant, despite staying indoors for weeks. While her mild symptoms had disappeared when she went into labor and she was considered clinically recovered, she had not yet obtained a negative swab test.
On the first day, she was only able to see a video of her baby drinking someone else’s breast milk. Only on the second day did the hospital staff ask her to express her milk manually.
Rozen said it hurt to be apart, but she only focused on her baby’s health.
She said one of her doctors wanted to keep them apart longer as a precaution, but her neonatologist, a doctor who specializes in newborn babies, said they can finally be together.
After 2 days, he was reunited with his son. They were in the car on the way home.
Neonatologist Dr. Mianne Silvestre of the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) said there was a lot of confusion about how to deal with breastfeeding during the first months of the pandemic.
But the World Health Organization guidelines for keeping mothers and babies together have prevailed, prompting the Department of Health to publish similar guidelines.
“Mothers should be counseled that the benefits of breastfeeding substantially outweigh the potential risks of transmission,” the WHO said in its recommendation.
However, Silvestre said that there are still people who are not aware of this and the current protocol that allows mothers who have COVID-19 to be with their babies. In general, he said, mothers should be able to breastfeed safely, as long as they wear a mask, wash their hands frequently and avoid coughing into their arms, as that is where the baby is placed.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, studies have shown how antibodies and other antiviral factors in breast milk can protect a baby from illness.
A recent study from Beijing, based on a laboratory experiment, showed that human breast milk actually suppresses the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Breast milk, collected in 2017, was “blocking viral adhesion, entry, and even post-entry viral replication,” wrote a team of scientists from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in two non-peer-reviewed papers. posted on biorxiv.org last week.
The study concluded that breast milk can inhibit COVID-19 infection. The team said that finding the cause of this could help in the development of antiviral drugs.
The Health Department said this week that it will review the study first, but added that breast milk is known to protect babies from certain diseases.
The latest study supports the official WHO stance that mothers should be allowed to continue breastfeeding even if they have COVID-19.
Experts from the Philippines agree, citing a number of reasons why mothers should not be separated from their babies, even amid mandatory isolation during the pandemic.
1. BREAST MILK COULD PROTECT BABIES FROM COVID-19 AND OTHER DISEASES
Silvestre said there is a lot of potential for the study.
“My bias is that it’s the antibodies in the milk,” Silvestre told ABS-CBN News. “Yung tinatawag na first breast milk or colostrum in (what they call the first breast milk or maternal colostrum). Colostrum contains the highest levels of antibodies. “
He explained that the so-called “secretory antibodies” from breast milk coat the intestine, “line the nostrils up to the trachea and the lungs.”
Silvestre, who is also the founding president of Kalusugan ng Mag-Ina (KMI), noted that these are the parts of the body most affected by SARS-CoV-2.
“Nagmi-yun (antibodies) migrate through the bloodstream and into the lungs, where they are most important in fighting respiratory infections such as COVID and pneumonia,” he said, adding that it also addresses diarrhea. Pneumonia and diarrhea are among the leading causes of infant mortality.
(Antibodies migrate through the bloodstream and into the lungs, where they are most important in fighting respiratory infections like COVID and pneumonia.)
Dr. Amado Parawan, a pediatrician and a health and nutrition advisor for Save the Children Philippines, said he believes the Beijing paper is “a very important study.”
After reading the article itself, he said it appears to be “scientifically done”, although more studies are needed to confirm this.
Parawan said that breastfeeding advocates have long promoted breast milk for its antibodies and antiviral properties.
“Breast milk helps develop the gut microbiome. Helps build good bacteria. It also prevents diarrhea, ”he said. “Of course, we know that it prevents other infections due to the antibodies present in breast milk. So it will fight infections. It could be viral, it could be bacterial. It also boosts the immune system. “
Following the idea that breast milk has the mother’s antibodies from previous infections, Silvestre said it was possible that it could provide protection against COVID-19.
“Let’s imagine a newborn mother, let’s say she has COVID just before giving birth. She has already started producing antibodies for herself, ”he said. “Colostrum contains antibodies not only to COVID but also to all the other infections the mother went through.”
(Imagine a mother who had COVID just before giving birth. She has already started producing antibodies for herself. Colostrum would have antibodies not only to COVID but to all the other infections the mother went through.)
As early as May, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai was already looking at how antibodies in milk produced by women who have recovered from COVID-19 can treat other people.
Silvestre also cited previous studies showing how contact and breastfeeding immediately after delivery significantly reduced the risk of infection and death among babies.
“If breastfeeding is delayed, double yung panganib na mamatay yung baby due to infection,” he said, citing studies in Nepal and Ghana, where most babies are exclusively breastfed.
(If you delay breastfeeding … the risk of the baby dying from an infection doubles.)
He said this is why the WHO recommended countries to keep the mother and child together even if the mother tests positive for COVID-19.
Silvestre said that as long as the mother has mild symptoms or is asymptomatic, she should be allowed to be with her child and breastfeed while wearing a mask. He also advised mothers not to cough or sneeze into the arm or elbow and instead use a tissue and wash their hands frequently.
This is also in accordance with current Department of Health protocols.
2. OTHER BABY HEALTH BENEFITS
Parawan said that breastfeeding also improves the brain development of babies. Studies have shown that breast milk increases brain growth.
3. BENEFITS FOR THE HEALTH OF THE MOTHER
“We also see benefits for the mother. It is protection against breast cancer, ovarian cancer ”, she added.
(He also sees the benefits for the mother. It is protection against breast cancer, ovarian cancer).
According to the Global Fund for Cancer Research, “There is strong evidence that breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast cancer. There is also limited or suggestive evidence that it also results in a decreased risk of ovarian cancer.
Parawan said that breastfeeding also helps develop the bond between mother and child, resulting in better mood and stress levels for the mother.
He said it is not true that breastfeeding affects a mother’s body, a concern for some of her patients. She noted that many models and celebrities advocate for breastfeeding.
4. SAFE FOR THE BABY
He said exclusive breastfeeding also ensures that the baby does not eat contaminated food.
“Because we don’t know if the water mixed with the milk is clean. Or is the bottle clean? “, He said.
(You don’t know if the water used for the formula is clean or if the bottle is clean.)
He said some parents choose to buy mineral water, but it is an unnecessary expense when breastfeeding is a free option.
A joint statement by United Nations agencies in the Philippines published in April stated: “During emergency situations, the rates of illness and death among infants and children are higher than in any other age group … Babies who drink Formula from an unsterilized bottle or nipple, or made with dirty water, can seriously get diarrhea and die within hours. “
5. ECONOMIC
Parawan said that breastfeeding also benefits the whole family.
“There are also benefits for the family because it is cheap. If you buy milk formula, it will reduce the family budget, especially in the COVID pandemic, many will lose their jobs, “he said.
(It benefits the family because it is inexpensive. If you buy milk formula, that consumes the family budget, especially now during the COVID pandemic, many people lost their jobs.
“It is the first form of food security.”
6. FRIENDLY WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
Finally, Parawan said that breastfeeding is ultimately good for the environment.
“The bottle is bad for the environment. The artificial nipple is not biodegradable, ”he said.
(The bottle is harmful to the environment. The artificial nipple is not biodegradable.
Parawan said that breastfeeding is not easy. “It takes a lot of dedication. It takes a lot of commitment
But you are giving liquid gold to your baby. “
Silvestre reminded the public that keeping babies away from their mothers for 14 days, the standard isolation period for COVID-19, is a death sentence for breastfeeding.
She argued that “no active virus capable of multiplying or reproducing in human breast milk has been documented” and that WHO itself has been adamant in emphasizing the importance of breastfeeding.
And for mothers who cannot produce enough milk, there are other options such as receiving donations from family members or from a milk bank.
The Human Milk Bank website lists the locations and contact details for milk banks across the country: https://hmb.ph/milkBankLocation.php.
breastfeeding, breast milk, breastfeeding with COVID, COVID-19, breast milk against COVID-19
[ad_2]