Breastfeeding study finds that mothers with COVID-19 didn't pass infection to babies through breast milk

• Women with COVID-19 didn't pass the virus to newborns through breast milk, a small study suggests.

• "Breastfeeding is not likely to be a hazard," Paul Krogstad, the lead study author from UCLA, said.

• The study, published in Pediatric Research, a peer-reviewed journal, bolsters existing CDC guidance.

Breastfeeding while infected with COVID-19, or just after an infection, is unlikely to spread the virus from mother to child, scientists have said.

A small study from researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found the breast milk of mothers with COVID-19 didn't contain infectious virus particles and there was no "clinical evidence" of babies contracting the virus due to breastfeeding.

Paul Krogstad, study lead author and a professor of pediatrics at University of California, Los Angeles said in a statement that breastfeeding with COVID-19 was "not likely to be a hazard." He added: "Breastmilk is an invaluable source of nutrition to infants."

Other early research has found breastfeeding mothers that have had COVID-19 can pass antibodies to newborns, but it's not yet clear if they give the baby any protection.

The latest study, published in the Pediatric Research medical journal Tuesday, is the largest of its kind, according to the study authors, and bolsters existing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

Establishing the risk of infection transmission for COVID-19 could help allay concerns over breastfeeding as some viruses – such as HIV – can be passed on through breast milk.

Health officials in the US and UK have previously said that there was no evidence that COVID-19 can spread through breast milk, but – while the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the risk of transmission of COVID-19 through breast milk or, more likely, close contact – it was ultimately an "individual decision".

Dr. Victoria Male, a researcher in reproductive immunology at Imperial College London, told Insider that the study meant people can be more confident in the message: "Milk does not seem to be a route of infection and you can continue to breastfeed."

Male, who wasn't involved in the study, cautioned that it didn't look at whether the baby can breathe in virus particles during breastfeeding.

The CDC recommends women with COVID-19 that "choose to breastfeed" wear a mask and wash hands beforehand in order to prevent passing on infection via other means.

To reach their findings, the study's researchers analyzed the breast milk of 65 COVID-19-positive women. The breast milk of seven of them contained "genetic" material for a short period of time that wasn't infectious, the study authors said.

The researchers cautioned that the small sample size may not capture all the factors that mean there was genetic material in breast milk.

The UCLA study took place between March to September 2020 before the Omicron variant was circulating.

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