COVID-19 and Breastfeeding

The World Health Organisation recommends mothers continue to breastfeed.

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With so much news in the media about COVID-19, it is natural to be concerned about breastfeeding or providing milk for your baby.

This is especially true if you think you have been exposed to or diagnosed with COVID-19. However, your milk is not only safe, but beneficial for your baby.
Below, Narelle answers common questions around COVID-19 and breastfeeding:
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Does COVID-19 get into my milk?

• We do not know for sure whether mothers with COVID-19 pass the virus into their milk. The very few studies on this topic did not find COVID-19 in mother’s milk. Studies of mothers who had a similar virus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; SARS-CoV) did not find the SARS virus in the mother’s milk.
• However, any virus that makes its way into the mother’s blood stream causes the mother to make very specific types of protection, called antibodies, that fight these same viruses. These antibodies pass into the mother’s milk. So, in the unlikely event that the virus is transferred in the milk, so are the antibodies that even the most modern medicines cannot provide.

Should I give formula instead, just to be safe?

• It is easy to think that giving other milk to your baby would be safer but, in fact, the opposite is true. Only your milk has the specific antibodies to protect your baby from becoming sick from this virus.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO), Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM), to name a few organisations who specialise in breastfeeding research, recommend continuing to breastfeed.
• If your baby is unwell or premature your breastmilk will help the baby’s immature immune system to fight all kinds of infections.

How can I protect myself and my baby?

• Stay home and stay safe
• Wash your hands with warm, soapy water or an alcohol hand sanitiser before and after:
  • breastfeeding
  • changing the nappy
  • handling expressing equipment
  • expressing breastmilk

Please follow the link below for information if you are sick with Covid-19 or think you may have it.
WHO Covid-19 Breastfeeding Information