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Getting a Covid Vaccine While Breastfeeding Protects Your Baby
Repeated studies reveal Covid antibodies in the breastmilk of people who have been vaccinated
More evidence now shows that people who get the Moderna or Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine while breastfeeding produce protective antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in their breastmilk, which is then passed along to their baby. While this is not the first study to show Covid antibodies develop in breastmilk after vaccination, it offers yet more proof that getting vaccinated while breastfeeding not only protects yourself but also offers protection to the baby who is nursing.
The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Breastfeeding Medicine, involved 21 health care workers at the University of Florida’s Shands Hospital who were tracked from December 2020 through March 2021. Seven of them received the Moderna vaccine, and 14 received the Pfizer vaccine. None of the participants had had a previous Covid infection. The researchers collected samples of the women’s blood and breastmilk before they were vaccinated, after their first vaccine dose, and after their second vaccine dose.
The researchers tested the samples for two types of antibodies: IgA and IgG. The first type, IgA, is the type of antibody most often found in breastmilk. It’s also the type found in saliva, tears, sweat, and fluids from your respiratory and digestive systems. IgA antibodies are the body’s first line of defense against a disease at the point where it first enters the body, such as through the nasal passages or mouth.
Meanwhile, IgG antibodies are the most common ones in blood and the ones that tend to do the most heavy-lifting in fighting a specific bacterial or viral infection. Most vaccines typically cause your body to make large amounts of IgG antibodies against a specific pathogen.
The IgA antibodies in the participants’ breastmilk increased after each dose of the vaccine. After they had been completely vaccinated, 85% of the participants’ breastmilk had high levels of IgA in their breastmilk. Past research had found that about 76% to 80% of lactating people with Covid infections had similar levels of IgA antibodies in their breastmilk.
