When a woman becomes a mother, it comes with a baggage of emotions that can be overwhelming for her. But throughout this beautiful journey, the mother’s most anticipated emotion is “worrying” and “the need to protect her child”. Before the pandemic that took place due to the spread of the Corona Virus, a mother’s worry about breast feeding was limited to the question: “how?”. Even though the answer could be found in many books or from a doctor, there is a new question troubling her; that is: “Would I be able to breastfeed my child if I was/is infected with the virus” or “Is my milk infected because I was/is corona positive?”.
The answer to this question yet not certain. Though the vaccine is new to the market and still undergoing a lot of research, they don’t have the specific data for the nursing mothers. As the developers are not much aware about the risk to babies due to clinical trials they have not yet tested on an im pregnant woman so as to avoid affecting the breast milk. The only safety data computed by them is from a breastfeeding healthcare personnel and essential workers who received the vaccine through emergency use authorization. Said by Dr.Lee, “The benefit of getting the vaccine is primarily that the breastfeeding woman will potentially gain protection from either getting COVID-19 or have less severe disease if they do get COVID-19 so that they continue to care for their infant”.
The option of getting vaccinated will and should be depended on the breastfeeding parents will after weighing and differentiating thoroughly between the benefits and risks. On the basis of information and evidences about other vaccines, it is believed that the antibodies created by coronavirus vaccination produced in the mother’s body will pass through the breast milk and may confer protection for the baby. As the coronavirus can be life-threatening in severe cases as observed by the doctors it is also believed that the vaccine could potentially spare the lives of a mother or her baby.
When it comes to our child’s health, we tend to overthink or sometimes are unable to draw up a conclusion, the parent, in that case, should contact the nearest vaccination center for inquiry and to clarify your questions. But it is also advised to ask your healthcare provider of your own personal risk when taking the vaccination while breastfeeding is being considered. A person could be suffering from underlying health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, or lung diseases, it is advised to be more inclined towards the option of getting vaccinated. Sometimes people are also willing to be vaccinated when they have a high-risk job. But in conclusion, the most important aspect is that how breastfeeding woman responds to similar kinds of vaccinations.
As there is no dead or alive COVID-19 virus being injected into the body through the vaccine, it might be safe for the breastfeeding mothers to get vaccinated knowing both the mother and child won’t be harmed. So, mothers should consider getting vaccinated even if they are breastfeeding but also recommended to check with their health care organizations
