Baby Born with COVID Antibodies
On November 29th, 2020, a Singaporean woman Celine Ng-Chan gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Aldrin weighing 3.5 kilograms at the National University Hospital in Kent Ridge, Singapore. What makes this child special is the fact that he is born with COVID-19 antibodies and is thus immune against the coronavirus naturally since birth!
At just 10 weeks into her second pregnancy, Ng-Chan, a private tutor was diagnosed with the coronavirus in March 2020 right at the most unstable stage of a pregnancy. Just 3 months into the first coronavirus-positive case, there was not much that the medical world knew in regards to how a pregnant woman and her unborn child would react to the virus. However, numerous tests and trials were carried out and it was eventually found in one March paper that 5 out of 6 women, while testing positive at the time of delivery, had elevated levels of the IgG antibodies even though they had not had COVID-19 prior to childbirth.
In November, Ng-Chan gave birth to a healthy, immune baby boy she named Aldrin, bringing hope and great news for all pregnant women across the globe. While the woman was not positive at the time of delivery, she was able to produce antibodies in her body during her own illness months ago, and those antibodies were able to cross the placenta and protect the baby against the virus.
In fact, other studies have also found that breast milk of recently infected mothers has protective antibodies against the coronavirus and can neutralise COVID-19 strains. Mothers who are infected with the virus only need to take the usual precautions – wear a mask, wash your hands and breasts before nursing – but they can continue to breastfeed their babies. Unfortunately, the complete risks or lack of breastfeeding while being positive are still unknown.
Credit: Rep Image/ANI News
