The World Health Organization today says women who are infected with Covid-19 should continue breastfeeding their babies and shouldn’t separate from them.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press conference the benefits of breastfeeding outweighed the risks.
He said the UN health agency had thoroughly investigated the risks of transmission from mother to baby.
"We know that children are at relatively low-risk of Covid-19, but are at high risk of numerous other diseases and conditions that breastfeeding prevents," Mr Ghebreyesus said.
"Based on the available evidence, WHO's advice is that the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh any potential risks of transmission of Covid-19.”
He said mothers suspected or confirmed to have the virus should be “encouraged to initiate and continue breastfeeding”.
“[They should] not be separated from their infants, unless the mother is too unwell.”
WHO senior advisor for reproductive health and research Anshu Banerjee said research so far didn’t find the live Covid-19 virus in breast milk.
WHO advised breastfeeding mothers to wear a mask, wash their hands before and after touching the baby and routinely clean surfaces.
The agency said if a mother was too unwell to breastfeed, her babies could be provided with milk safely through expression, relactation or donor human milk.
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