A South Florida woman who received the COVID-19 vaccine gave birth to the first known antibody baby, according to two doctors.
The woman, who works on the health care front line, received the first dose of Moderna’s injection when she was 36 weeks pregnant, reported the WPBF news station.
When she gave birth, three weeks later, in January, in Palm Beach County, a blood sample was taken from the umbilical cord.
“We tested the baby’s umbilical cord to see if the mother’s antibodies passed to the baby, which is something we see happening with other vaccines given during pregnancy,” Dr. Paul Gilbert told the news station.
The blood sample confirmed what the doctors suspected: the child was born with antibodies.
“As far as we know, this was the first time in the world that a baby was born with antibodies after vaccination,” said Gilbert.
Gilbert and Dr. Chad Rudnick presented their findings in a new article – which has not yet been peer-reviewed, and explains that more research is needed to determine whether antibodies protect newborns.
“We ask other researchers to create pregnancy and breastfeeding records, as well as to conduct studies of the efficacy and safety of Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant and lactating women and their children,” they wrote.