FRONT HEALTH
HUMAN MILK , PREGNANCY AND COVID-19
UC San Diego researchers answer critical questions .
BY MICHELLE BRUBAKER
W hen the global pandemic hit in March 2020 , there was great uncertainty for lactating and pregnant parents : Is COVID-19 transmitted via human milk ? Can human milk protect infants from COVID-19 ? Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine immediately started looking for answers . “ On one hand , we already know human milk protects the baby from many diseases , such as diarrhea and pulmonary infections . But we also know that human milk can be a vehicle for some diseases to spread in the milk to the baby ,” says Lars Bode , PhD , founding director of UC San Diego ’ s Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence ( MOMI CORE ).
“ We knew that pregnant and lactating parents were contracting COVID-19 , but the fact of the matter was that we knew very little about its short- and long-term effects on a developing baby ,” says Christina Chambers , PhD , MPH , director of the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists ( OTIS ) MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies and UC San Diego ’ s Mommy ’ s Milk Human Milk Research Biorepository .
For the COVID-19 and human milk study , the Human Milk Research Biorepository recruited residents of the United States or Canada , who were currently lactating and had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus .
Elizabeth Imada donated breast milk to the UC Health Milk Bank during the national baby formula shortage ( top ); Lars Bode , PhD , studies human milk and its impact on health and development ( left ) and Christina Chambers , PhD , MPH , focuses on the impact of environmental exposures during pregnancy , lactation and child health outcomes ( right ).
Parents were interviewed by telephone , provided one or more milk samples , and were asked to release relevant medical records from their health care providers .
Together , with collaborators at University of California Los Angeles , it took the team 161 days from the beginning of the pandemic to publish their results that human milk is unlikely to be a source of active virus and does not pose a harm to the human milk-fed baby .
“ Under normal circumstances , 161 days from study conception to peer-reviewed publication would be considered extraordinarily fast , but for a crisis like this , it means 161 days of uncertainty for parents , health care providers , and public health authorities ,” says Bode .
As COVID-19 vaccines became available , another challenge arose . The vaccines had not been tested in pregnant or lactating parents , which raised new concerns : For example , are the COVID- 19 vaccines , and mRNA vaccines in particular , safe for pregnant and lactating parents and their babies ? Can these vaccines potentially not only protect these parents , but also their babies ?
“ In the first few days , not knowing the answers to these fundamental questions led to families choosing between vaccination and human milk feeding their child ,” says Bode .
MotherToBaby was tapped by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the trusted resource for the public to answer questions about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy and lactation .
“ With a large influx of families contacting MotherToBaby and wanting to help find answers , we were quickly
12 FALL 2022