ArticleMaternal & child nutrition2020
When separation is not the answer: Breastfeeding mothers and infants affected by COVID-19.
Article in Maternal & child nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 132 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mother-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- The role of doulas in providing breastfeeding support during the COVID-19 pandemic.International breastfeeding journal · 2023Pooled it
- [Review of new evidence about the possible vertical transmission of coronavirus disease-2019].Gaceta sanitariaPooled it
- "I will breastfeed until the pandemic has ceased to protect her at all costs": a qualitative analysis of black breastfeeding mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic.International breastfeeding journal · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice of breastfeeding among mothers experiencing maternal-infant separation: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Building a baby-friendly community: Development, strategy, implementation and evaluation of a BFCI program.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Pandemic as an Organizational Paradigm for Neonatal Care: Long-Term Impact of Mother-Infant Separation Practice During COVID-19.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Legacy of COVID-19 in Breast Milk: The Association of Elevated Anti-Inflammatory and Antimicrobial Proteins with Vaccination or Infection.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Article
- Call to include breastfeeding as a synergistic approach to vaccines for prevention of respiratory syncytial virus disease.International breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
- Becoming a new parent during the pandemic: experiences of pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Health professional competency building for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in Malawi.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- The impact of continuous and intermittent supportive counseling on self-efficacy and continuation of breastfeeding in lactating women affected by COVID-19: a quasi-experimental trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Parenting through place-of-care disruptions: A qualitative study of parents' experiences of neonatal care.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
- Differences in delivery hospitalization experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic by maternal race and ethnicity, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, 2020.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024Article
- Perinatal care and breastfeeding education during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from Kenyan mothers and healthcare workers.Maternal & child nutrition · 2023Article
- The effect of COVID-19 on the mental health of the people in the Indian subcontinent: A scoping review.Nepal journal of epidemiology · 2023Article
- Factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic: a subset of the IMAgiNE EURO cross-sectional study.International breastfeeding journal · 2023Observational
- COVID-19: Implications for Nursing and Health Care in the United States.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2023Article
- Global lessons for strengthening breastfeeding as a key pillar of food security.Frontiers in public health · 2023Review
- Implementing recommended breastfeeding practices in healthcare facilities in India during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review of health system bottlenecks and potential solutions.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided detailed guidance on the care of infants of women who are persons under investigation (PUI) or confirmed to have COVID-19. The guidance supports immediate post-partum mother-infant contact and breastfeeding with appropriate respiratory precautions. Although many countries have followed WHO guidance, others have implemented infection prevention and control (IPC) policies that impose varying levels of post-partum separation and discourage or prohibit breastfeeding or provision of expressed breast milk. These policies aim to protect infants from the potential harm of infection from their mothers, yet they may fail to fully account for the impact of separation. Global COVID-19 data are suggestive of potentially lower susceptibility and a typically milder course of disease among children, although the potential for severe disease in infancy remains. Separation causes cumulative harms, including disrupting breastfeeding and limiting its protection against infectious disease, which has disproportionate impacts on vulnerable infants. Separation also presumes the replaceability of breastfeeding-a risk that is magnified in emergencies. Moreover, separation does not ensure lower viral exposure during hospitalizations and post-discharge, and contributes to the burden on overwhelmed health systems. Finally, separation magnifies maternal health consequences of insufficient breastfeeding and compounds trauma in communities who have experienced long-standing inequities and violence, including family separation. Taken together, separating PUI/confirmed SARS-CoV-2-positive mothers and their infants may lead to excess preventable illnesses and deaths among infants and women around the world. Health services must consider the short-andlong-term impacts of separating mothers and infants in their policies.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.