Yemisi Izuora
The World Health Organization (WHO), has interpreted its investigation saying the outcome showed that the risks of COVID-19 positive women infecting their babies during breastfeeding was non existent.
WHO added that mothers may chose not to breastfeed their children if they are very ill.
“Mothers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should be encouraged to initiate and continue breastfeeding and not be separated from their infants, unless the mother is too unwell,” WHO’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom said in a press briefing on Friday, in Geneva.
Adhanom stressed that the health benefits of breastfeeding a child far “outweighs any potential risks of transmission of COVID-19.”
“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,” he said.