COVID-19: Baby 'born with antibodies' after mother contracted virus while pregnant - report

A woman who had COVID-19 when she was pregnant has given birth to a baby who has antibodies against the virus, according to a report.

The Singaporean woman caught the virus in March and the baby was born on 7 November, COVID-free but with antibodies, the Straits Times reported.

The mother, Celine Ng-Chan, told the newspaper: "My doctor suspects I have transferred my COVID-19 antibodies to him during my pregnancy."

She said she had been told by the paediatrician that her antibodies had gone, but those of her son, who has been named Aldrin, remain.

Mrs Ng-Chan, 31, spent two-and-a-half weeks in hospital with coronavirus, but was described by the newspaper as having been only mildly ill.

Mrs Ng-Chan said that she, her mother, and her daughter had all contracted COVID-19 after returning from a family holiday to Europe in March.

Her husband and father were also on the trip, but they did not get ill.

She told the newspaper: "My pregnancy and birth was smooth sailing, despite being diagnosed with COVID-19 in my first trimester, which is the most unstable stage of the pregnancy.

"I'm very blessed to have Aldrin and he came out very healthy.

"I feel relieved my COVID-19 journey is finally over now."

It is not clear how unusual it is for a pregnant woman with COVID-19 to pass the virus on to her foetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery.

The active virus has not been found in any samples of fluid around the baby in the womb or in breast milk, the World Health Organisation has said.

A spokesman for Singapore's National University Hospital, where Aldrin was born, told the Straits Times that, without specifying numbers, so far all other mothers and new-borns have tested negative.

In October, an article in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases said doctors in China had reported the detection and decline over time of COVID-19 antibodies in babies born to women with the virus.