‘Babies don’t contract Covid if mom tests +ve’

Lucknow: Stating that there was little evidence to prove that Covid-19 is transferred from a lactating mother to her baby, health and nutrition experts on Friday urged parents not to deprive their kid of the most reliable source of good health.
“Fear around coronavirus also spread a myth that mothers may transfer Covid-19 to their lactating baby… Various studies from across the world have shown that in 99.9% cases, even Covid-19 positive moms did not pass on the infection to their babies provided they followed safety measures like sanitization, hand hygiene and wore masks,” said nutrition specialist, Unicef, UP, Dr Richa Singh Pandey ahead of the National Breastfeeding Awareness Week starting August 1. She informed that for every dollar invested in promoting breastfeeding, returns worth 35 times the cost are guaranteed. But data shows that the easiest health practice remains a missed opportunity in Uttar Pradesh. More than 73% babies are not fed the mother’s milk in the first hour of birth. This happens despite the fact that over 68% of the babies are born at a health facility in the state.
“Breastfeeding is not only an investment in improving children’s health and saving lives, but also an outlay for human capital development that can benefit a country’s economy. Studies have shown that for every dollar invested in promotion of breastfeeding, the return is 35 dollars,” she said. General manager, Child Health, National Health Mission, UP, Dr Ved Prakash said: “nothing in the world can buy the benefits of mother’s milk but sustained exclusive breastfeeding surely gives higher returns that shape the personality of a person. Mother’s milk lays the foundation of good health as it contains life-saving antibodies and growth promoters, which nothing else can substitute.”