Woman in Singapore gives birth to baby with COVID-19 antibodies

A woman in Singapore, who contracted the novel coronavirus in March when she was pregnant, has given birth to a baby with antibodies against the virus.

Scientists are considering this as a new clue to decipher how the infection transfers from the mother to the child.

The baby was born this month without COVID-19 but with the virus antibodies, the Straits Times newspaper reported on Sunday.

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"My doctor suspects I have transferred my COVID-19 antibodies to him during my pregnancy," Celine Ng-Chan told the paper.

Ng-Chan had been mildly ill from the disease and was discharged from hospital after two-and-a-half weeks, the Straits Times said.

The World Health Organisation says it is not yet known whether a pregnant woman with COVID-19 can pass the virus to her foetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery.

To date, the active virus has not been found in samples of fluid around the baby in the womb or in breast milk.

Doctors in China have reported the detection and decline over time of COVID-19 antibodies in babies born to women with the coronavirus disease, according to an article published in October in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.