Doctors share advice to keep newborns safe from COVID-19
Having a baby during the pandemic is daunting, especially now with the highly contagious omicron variant. Maryland doctors have advice for parents to keep their newborns safe.
Max will turn 1 month old Saturday, and his mother, Meghan Grogan, is doing her best to protect him from COVID-19.
"It's frightening. They are saying a lot of newborns aren't getting it, but if me and his father both get it, taking care of a newborn is hard enough, but taking care of a newborn when you are both sick? I cannot even imagine," Grogan said.
Max has not been tested for antibodies, but Grogan said she hopes to pass them on to him.
"Hopefully, he'll get it through breastfeeding," Grogan said. "I had it beforehand. I had both vaccines. So, hopefully, he'll get it through that, too."
Grogan also received her booster shot.
Dr. Aziza Shad, chairwoman of pediatrics at LifeBridge Sinai Hospital, said the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 is increasing.
"We are definitely getting more hospitalized patients in the children's hospital. Most of them are young children, children who have not been able to get vaccines yet because they have not been approved to receive vaccines," Shad said.
As of Friday, Sinai was caring for a 3-month-old child and a 12-month-old child who have COVID-19. There is much concern with the omicron variant.
"This is a highly contagious virus. Omicron has shown us that it moves through families very rapidly," Shad said.
For now, Grogan is staying close to home and limiting visitors.
"We really haven't left the house. We haven't been going anywhere. His dad just went back to work, which is scary because now he's around people," she said.
Grogan will return to work in February and Max will go to daycare. She's hoping for the best.
Shad said parents of newborns should get vaccinated, get boosted and wear face masks to do all they can to decrease the risks for getting COVID-19.
