A study in New York City found that 101 newborns born to mothers infected with coronavirus showed no evidence of transmission when basic infection-control procedures were followed.
The study took place March 13 to April 24, 2020, at two NYC hospitals at a large academic medical center. It involved 76 mothers who stayed with their babies in private rooms and wore face coverings, 19 mothers who could not visit their babies in the neonatal intensive care units for 14 days and six moms and babies who were separated because the mothers were in intensive care.
Delayed infant bathing and direct breastfeeding after hand-washing and breast washing were encouraged for babies rooming with their mothers, and the newborns rested in protective cribs 6 feet away from their mothers' beds.
Two newborns had positive COVID-19 test results but no signs or symptoms; one of them wasn't retested and the other was negative on retesting. Follow-up of 58 of the infants at 3 to 25 days old found that all the newborns remained well and none had evidence of COVID-19 infection, including six with negative results on retesting.
Moms severely ill with coronavirus gave birth about one week earlier than those with asymptomatic or mild infections. Delayed bathing was found to increase the likelihood of exclusive breastfeeding and guard against hypothermia and dangerously low blood glucose, while breast milk seemed to help protect newborns against the novel coronavirus.