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Medical staff at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi on Wednesday successfully delivered a baby whose mother is currently being treated for COVID-19 at the hospital.
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Most Infants Are Well Even When Moms are Infected by COVID-19, UCSF Study Shows Reassuring Initial Findings for Infant Health
The baby was born to woman, 20, from Bac Giang, who was registered as COVID-19 patient No. 3,961 and was admitted to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases on May 17 at 35 weeks pregnant, Tuoi Tre Newspaper reported.
She went into labor on Wednesday morning during her 38th week of pregnancy, and was supported by a team of one obstetrician and two nurses.
The newborn, weighing 2.2 kilograms, and the mother were both delcared in stable conditions following the delivery.
The mother was transferred to the hepatitis department to continue treatment for COVID-19 while the baby has been in the care of two pediatric nurses in a separate area to avoid infection from the mother.
This is the fourth baby born to a coronavirus patient in Vietnam so far.
“The babies are doing well, and that’s wonderful,” said a doctor. “When coronavirus first hit, there were so many strange and unfortunate issues tied to it, but there was almost no information on how COVID-19 impacts pregnant women and their newborns. We didn’t know what to expect for the babies, so this is good news.”
Infants born to women with COVID-19 showed few adverse outcomes, according to the first report in the country of infant outcomes through eight weeks of age.
The study, led by researchers at UC San Francisco, suggests that babies born to mothers infected with the virus generally do well six to eight weeks after birth, however there was a higher rate of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions reported if the mothers had COVID-19 up to two weeks prior to delivery.
Among 263 infants in the study, adverse outcomes – including preterm birth, NICU admission, and respiratory disease – did not differ between those born to mothers testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and those born to mothers testing negative. No pneumonia or lower respiratory tract infection were reported through eight weeks of age.
The study is published as a prepublication accepted manuscript in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
