In the current pandemic, perinatal management and postnatal care of infants born to mothers with a suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in newborns, infants and children are highly relevant topics with rapidly evolving knowledge. The need for new studies to contribute to the existing evidence base is very important to provide guidance in clinical decisions. Our study aims to publish our experience in the UAE from a cluster of hospitals and their existing practices. Since the directives and guidelines to approach and treat COVID-19 are ever evolving, we hope to share our knowledge about the rooming in practices.
Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 began, it has been consistently found in several studies that children are less likely to be infected and do not develop severe manifestations of the disease. The hypotheses include mal-adaptive immune response in the elderly compared to children, developmental changes in immunity, with a predominant innate response to infectious stimulus in young infants, the negative effects of ageing on lungs, differences in the physiology and anatomy of the respiratory tract and the crucial role of comorbidities on outcomes18. Additionally, according to some studies, children’s healthier endothelium may protect them from the disease progressing in severity or fatality19. This is contrary to what may happen in adults, in whom problems with the endothelium seem to be related with a worse prognosis.20
The risk of maternal to neonatal transmission has also been shown to be low. The hypothesis is that the paucity of ACE2 receptors in the placenta which may be necessary for transplacental transfer to the fetus leads to a lower transmission risk17.
Despite initial concern that pregnant women and their newborns may be high-risk groups compared to the general population based on outbreaks of other coronavirus diseases in the past, it has become increasingly clear that this is not the case with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.7–10,21. The risk of vertical transmission of the virus from mother to infant before or during delivery has been shown to be low in our study similar to what has been observed in other studies8–10. The estimated risk found in our study was 2.5% (1/40) which is similar to previously published data which reported outcomes approximately 1-1.5%.7,17,22 .
Based on literature so far, the breast milk of a COVID-19 positive mother is not considered to be a transmission vehicle, similar to other known respiratory viral infections23, 24. In our study, we also found that exclusive breastfeeding or mixed feeding did not increase the chances of the baby contacting the infection from the mother.
It has also been suggested from previous studies,25 that specific maternal SARS-CoV-2 antibodies pass via the breast milk from the COVID-19 positive mother to her child within a few days after the onset of the disease, thus possibly acting as a protecting factor for the infant. However, it must be emphasized that mothers who chose to exclusively breastfeed their infants were taking all droplet precautions and practicing hand hygiene before the initiation of each breastfeeding session.
Due to the initial uncertainty surrounding the outcomes of mothers affected by COVID-19 and their infants, recommendations on the postnatal management of the mother–infant dyad from professional bodies have been inconsistent.16, 25–28. Some guidelines advocate caring for the affected mothers and their infants in separate rooms when feasible to reduce the risk of mother–infant transmission postnatally and also recommend avoiding direct breastfeeding while mother is still infected, unless mother expresses her wish to directly breastfeed.27,28
In our study which consisted of a study group from five different hospitals, one hospital adopted the practice of completely separating the mother-baby dyad and rest of the hospitals adopted a different approach of rooming in the well babies with mothers and caring for them using all precautions.
From our study, the risk of horizontal transmission from mother to baby is negligible and on par with the general population exposure. Additionally, given the evidence that the chances of neonates getting infected or developing severe manifestations of the COVID-19 disease is very low, we strongly recommend rooming in and direct breastfeeding the newborns with mothers after delivery. We have found that this approach far outweighs the clinical risks of contacting the disease as the mother infant bonding and direct breastfeeding rates were comparatively lower in separated mother-infant dyad which is not the correct approach for the well-being of the baby and the mother. Our study has validated this approach with no clinically or laboratory-proven mother to infant transmission of the virus during the hospital stay and the 2 weeks follow-ups, even with a very high rate of breastfeeding in the discharged infants.
Our study is unique in that it encompasses the data from 5 different hospitals across the UAE. Hence, a diverse population is included in the study group. Our study also has limitations. Our study is observational and retrospective, and the sample size is small. However, our results are encouraging and would act as a guide for further studies involving large sample sizes. Also, since the follow-up of infants was conducted by telephonic interviews, there is a chance that asymptomatic infants infected with the virus may have been missed in the absence of testing; however, this risk seems to be low.
The risk of mother-to-infant transmission of SARS-CoV2, vertically or horizontally, in the perinatal period is very low. Breastfeeding and rooming in can be practiced safely with adequate infection control precautions. Further studies are needed with larger sample sizes to evaluate neonatal outcomes in the short and long term.