Antibodies that protect against Covid-19 can be transferred from mothers to babies while they are in the womb, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian researchers published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology .
The results add to other research suggesting that pregnant women who generate protective antibodies after contracting the coronavirus often pass some of that natural immunity to their fetuses . The findings also support the idea that vaccinating expectant mothers may also have benefits for their newborns.
“Since we can now say that the antibodies that pregnant women make against COVID-19 have been shown to pass on to their babies, we suspect that there is a good chance that they also pass on the antibodies that the body produces after being vaccinated.” . said Dr. Yawei Jenny Yang, assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and lead author of the study.
For the study, blood samples from 88 women who gave birth at this hospital between March and May 2020 were analyzed. All of the women had COVID-19 antibodies in their blood, indicating that they had contracted the virus at some point. despite the fact that 58 percent of those women were asymptomatic .
Furthermore, although antibodies were detected in both symptomatic and asymptomatic women, the researchers found that the antibody concentration was significantly higher in symptomatic women . They also found that the general pattern of antibody response was similar to the response seen in other patients.
There was no evidence that any of the babies had been directly infected with the virus and all were COVID-negative at birth, further indicating that the antibodies had crossed the placenta . Newborns with symptomatic mothers also had higher antibody levels than those whose mothers had no symptoms.
It is not the only study that reaches the same conclusion. Other recent research concludes that in 87 percent of cases, Covid antibodies can pass into the fetus’ placenta if the mother contracts the virus during pregnancy.
The vaccine in pregnant women
Scientists wonder if the antibodies generated by the vaccine will protect pregnant women and their babies in the same way. It is still too early to answer that question, as some pregnant women are now being vaccinated.
But studies done so far suggest that it is possible that these antibodies can protect both mother and child from future infections. However, it is not yet known exactly how protective these antibodies might be, or how long that protection might last, explained Dr. Laura Riley, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Vía | Weill Cornell Medicine
In Babies and more | A mother vaccinated against Covid-19 during pregnancy transmitted virus antibodies to her baby
