Health experts confirmed that if the mother is a confirmed COVID-19 patient, still she can breastfeed her child after taking few precautionary measures. Mother should take the following steps to avoid spreading the virus to her baby.
Wash your hands before touching your baby.
Wear a face mask, if possible, while feeding at the breast.
Wash your hands before touching pump or bottle parts and clean all parts after each use.
If expressing breast milk with a manual or electric breast pump, the mother should wash her hands before touching any pump or bottle parts and follow recommendations for proper pump cleaning after each use.
Health Experts also emphasised “Breastfeeding is particularly effective against infectious diseases because it strengthens the immune system by directly transferring antibodies from the mother. Hence, we advise mothers to continue breastfeeding their babies, without failing to take standard precautions.”