Relationships

Moms Are Still Having Their Newborn Babies Separated From Them Because Of Covid

It sounds like something from a dystopian novel, but in fact, across the U.S. and other areas of the world, babies are being taken from mothers who test positive for Covid right after birth.

By Jessica Marie Baumgartner4 min read
Moms Are Still Having Their Newborn Babies Separated From Them Because Of Covid shutterstock

Even with the new variants, infants and children under 20 have less than a 1% chance of dying from Covid-19. If we’re following the science and the data, then why are newborns still being separated from mothers who test positive for Covid? 

We are now coming up on the two-year anniversary of “2 weeks to flatten the curve.” Babies, children, and mothers are more likely to die from accidents, heart complications, and a bevy of other issues than from Covid. Not to mention that as the virus mutates it grows less deadly/harmful as it becomes more contagious. Yet mothers are still being robbed of their maternal rights, and they need to stand up for themselves and others in order to end this abusive medical tyranny. 

Mothers Who Experienced This Unscientific Trauma

In Chicago, Illinois, a family was separated from their newborn baby boy because he tested positive for Covid. No one thought to retest, even though false positives are more common than false negatives, and that five different categories of false positives have been researched and identified: errors in test operation, poorly specific Ag-RDTs, detection of inactive or residual SARS-CoV-2, cross-contamination, and cross-reactions with other substances in clinical samples.

A California mother experienced the same sort of separation when she gave birth during a bad Covid-19 infection. Doctors decided to deliver the baby by emergency C-section at 32 weeks even though the only known risk of Covid-19 infection while pregnant is preterm labor. Afterward, the baby was taken from the mother.

In Chicago, a family was separated from their newborn son because he tested positive for Covid.

In Queensland, Australia, a mother was forcibly separated from her newborn son due to contact tracing. She herself had not contracted the illness, but because her teenage daughter had been exposed, she and her baby were traumatized until she received a negative PCR result. “They told me they were going to take him for an hour for tests, and then when they took him, they said I wouldn’t get him back,” she said, then noted that it made her “hysterical.”

Another Illinois couple was not allowed to visit their son in the NICU despite the fact that the mother had already started breastfeeding and the separation would likely hinder her milk supply. Apparently, the hospital couldn’t work to create a private room for these kinds of issues, or utilize all their Covid relief money to introduce better protocols. 

These cases all perfectly display medical overreach. The families in question deserved better, especially their babies. This kind of abuse of power is exactly why I opted for home births, and why so many women having babies in 2020, 2021, and even now, are terrified of giving birth in a hospital. Because they know that a positive Covid test, even a false positive or asymptomatic case, can subject them to losing their child.  

Separating Newborns from Mothers Is More Harmful Than Covid

In 2020, studies were already proving that the risk of mother-to-infant transmissions of Covid-19 were low. It was also well known that infants – who are just starting life – already know their mother’s smell, voice, and warmth and that contact between a mother and child has numerous health benefits.

Skin-to-skin care from their mother regulates the baby’s breathing, heart rate, and body temperature. There is nothing more natural than laying a newborn on their mother’s chest after birth to promote better health. It has also been known to improve oxygen levels, growth, and potentially reduce hospital stays. 

Skin-to-skin care from their mother regulates the baby’s breathing, heart rate, and body temperature. 

This kind of contact also relaxes the mother and truly gives her the mommy feel. Giving birth is like going into battle. The mother’s body goes through so much that just touching the little person they labored for is worth it. Holding her newborn for the first time releases oxytocin to develop bonding. Those first special moments are what kick-start maternal instincts, which reduce the risk of postpartum depression and other issues. 

So why would any medical establishment set in place policies that directly interfere with maternal and infant health? How could they possibly believe that Covid (again, children under 4 have a 0% chance of dying from Covid) is more concerning than all of the health complications that are related to mother/newborn separation? 

Especially when taking into account that denying newborns contact with their mother leads to higher rates of infant mortality. The WHO actually recommends that “mothers should continue to share a room with their babies from birth and be able to breastfeed and practice skin-to-skin contact – even when COVID-19 infections are suspected or confirmed – and should be supported to ensure appropriate infection prevention practices.”

Instead of tearing a child away from its mother the second it’s born, health care professionals should look into the power of breastfeeding and how it combats infections like Covid-19.

Breastfeeding Passes Antibodies and Jump Starts Babies’ Immune Systems

Breastfeeding is established early. All of my babies learned how to latch on within the first hour of life. It took practice and patience. Everybody’s tired and gross. The baby is confused and just learning how to breathe, much less eat, but breastmilk isn’t just milk – it’s medicine. In those first few hours and days, a mother’s milk isn’t really flowing just yet, but she does produce small amounts of colostrum. This helps clean the amniotic fluid from the baby’s system and boost immunities to viruses and bacteria. 

Colostrum (and later, breastmilk) is also a probiotic that prevents allergies, asthma, obesity, childhood cancers, and meningitis. There is no evidence that Covid-19 can be transmitted through breastmilk. The CDC currently states that “Current evidence suggests that breast milk is not likely to spread the virus to babies.”

Breastmilk is a probiotic that prevents allergies, asthma, obesity, childhood cancers, and meningitis.

So breastfeeding should be advised and encouraged if Covid-19 is truly a concern. But even in the CDC guidelines, they still advise mothers to limit contact with infants. Apparently, they don’t understand how breastfeeding works. Breastfeeding is a full-time job that often requires contact to increase milk supply and encourage the baby to feed and maintain a healthy weight. 

Women can utilize breast pumps if they’re seriously concerned, but having used pumps myself, I can say that they do not offer the lactation-inducing effects that cuddling a baby does. They’re cold pieces of plastic. They’re uncomfortable no matter how properly sized because they work from vacuum suction. They can – and do – help, but could never replace the skin-to-skin contact that is so essential for babies and mothers. 

More research should be done on how breastmilk very likely prevents Covid-19 transmissions from mothers to infants. It’s of great value to hospitals, doctors, and nurses who still care about treating patients instead of pandering politics. Unfortunately, for now, the fact is that infants are still being taken from their mothers over Covid hysteria, and it’s harming everyone involved.  

Closing Thoughts

No doctor, nurse, or hospital staff member has the right to rob parents of their children and cause preventable health issues that are more deadly and dangerous than Covid-19. Infants need contact with their mothers in order to properly thrive. 

When hospitals take infants away from parents due to a virus that has almost no chance of killing a baby, it has nothing to do with science, medicine, or public health. Couples need to interview every health care provider to avoid becoming victims of these kinds of tragedies, and should they find themselves meeting that horrific fate, they need to take legal action as far as it can possibly go to not only compensate themselves, but to set a precedent that tells the medical industry our children belong to us, not them. 

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