Woman Vaccinated During Pregnancy Gives Birth To Baby With COVID Antibodies

A woman in Florida gave birth to the first known baby with coronavirus antibodies. The unidentified woman, who is a frontline healthcare worker, received the first dose of Moderna's vaccine while she was 36 weeks pregnant.

Three weeks later, the woman gave birth to "a vigorous, healthy, full-term girl," researchers wrote in a preprint article. Doctors tested the baby's blood and found IgG antibodies, which can remain in the system for months or years after a person has recovered from the viral infection.

"To our knowledge, this was the first in the world that was reported of a baby being born with antibodies after a vaccination," Dr. Paul Gilbert told WPBF. "We tested the baby's cord to see if the antibodies in the mother passed to the baby, which is something we see happen with other vaccines given during pregnancy."

Researchers said they need to conduct more studies to determine whether infants are protected by the antibodies.

"This is one small case in what will be thousands and thousands of babies born to mothers who have been vaccinated of the next several months," Dr. Chad Rudnick said. "Further studies have to determine how long will this protection last. They have to determine at what level of protection or how many antibodies does a baby need to have circulating in order to give them protection."

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