A coronavirus positive woman has given birth to a baby at the AIIMS here, official sources said, adding that the baby is “healthy and doing well as of now”. Dr Neerja Bhatla, professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at AIIMS who led the team which carried out the delivery said the baby boy was born on Friday evening, a week early, through C-section and is doing fine so far. When asked if the baby’s sample would be tested for COVID-19, she said, “We are going to monitor his condition and look out for symptoms. So far the baby is doing fine.”
According to doctors, this is the first baby to be born to a coronavirus infected woman in Delhi. The baby’s mother who was nine-months pregnant had tested positive on Thursday after her husband, a senior resident doctor working in the department of physiology at AIIMS, was found to be infected with the virus. The doctor’s brother has also tested positive for the respiratory infection.
The baby is with his mother since he will need breastfeeding. So far, there is no proof that suggests that the virus can be transmitted through breastfeeding, another doctor said. The doctor said the mother is also fine and though she has tested positive for COVID-19, she is asymptomatic at present. The AIIMS has already prepared a protocol dedicated to the care of COVID-19 infected pregnant woman patients. According to WHO, women with COVID-19 can breastfeed if they wish to but should practice hygiene during the feeding, where a mask where available, wash hands before and after touching the baby and routinely clean and disinfect surfaces they have touched.