As science begins to show that COVID antibodies are passed through breast milk, some Granite State mothers are nursing for longer or providing pumped milk to older kids.

By Kelly Burch, Granite State News Collaborative

Each time Vanessa Gravell, of Salem, nurses her 10-month-old daughter Everly, she feels a sense of relief. Gravell is fully vaccinated against coronavirus and she’s likely passing some of her COVID antibodies to Everly through breastmilk. For the first time mom, that’s a big deal. 

“The constant worry associated with the pandemic has been really hard,” Gravell said. “After getting vaccinated, knowing that I’m passing antibodies, I feel like a little bit of that weight on my shoulders has been lifted.”

Antibodies are proteins that the body makes in response to infections or immunizations. Once your body has antibodies for a virus like COVID, it’s better able to fight off infection from that virus in the future. Emerging research shows that mothers like Gravell who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 pass antibodies through breast milk, providing some level of protection to their nursing children.

“[Researchers are] seeing what’s thought to be protective levels of the antibodies,” said Dr. Brittany Davis-Schaffer, a pediatrician with the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth in Lebanon. 

Doctors and researchers have known for a long time that antibodies can be passed through breast milk. Many medical professionals suspected that would be the case with COVID antibodies, but since pregnant and nursing women were excluded from vaccine trials, there was no data available to support that hypothesis. As more breastfeeding women began getting the vaccine, a small but promising pool of research showed that COVID antibodies were being passed through the breastmilk of women who had been vaccinated. It’s not yet clear how much protection these antibodies offer, but the results are encouraging. 

“There’s a good amount of smaller studies that do show that the antibodies go through breast milk,” Davis-Schaffer said. “With time, we’ll see more and more of those studies with COVID.”

That’s heartening for many parents, especially since there is no vaccine available to children younger than 12.

There are still many unknowns about COVID antibodies and breast milk. One study found that antibodies are present in milk for at least six weeks after vaccination, but researchers aren’t sure exactly how long after a vaccine they’re present. Researchers also are not sure whether there are enough antibodies in breast milk to offer protection to a toddler or older child who isn’t nursing consistently, but who receives an occasional dose of pumped milk.

Still, Davis-Schaffer has seen more parents extending the time that they’re breastfeeding, or pumping milk for older children who are no longer nursing in hopes of passing any level of COVID protection.

“We’re not completely sure with that, but even on an intermittent basis, it could still be protective and those antibodies are being passed,” Davis-Schaffer said. “If the mom feels that is the right choice for them, I would support that.”

Colleen Di Felice, of Atkinson, is mom to a 16-month-old and a three-year-old. Her older daughter stopped nursing when Di Felice became pregnant with her second child. The baby was about three months old when the pandemic hit. Di Felice’s older daughter had expressed an interest in nursing again, and Di Felice decided to let her, hoping to provide extra immune support during the pandemic. 

“With majoring in biology in college I knew of the benefits of antibodies in breast milk,” Di Felice said. “I figured why not let her nurse again? If I ever came down with COVID-19, both kids would get these antibodies and hopefully be protected.”

Recently, Di Felice received both doses of the vaccine. She has continued to nurse both children and is also pumping extra milk to set aside if the kids should get sick with COVID in the future. 

“I’ve upped my pumping at work recently to know that I have a frozen stash of milk with these antibodies if needed,” she said. 

Davis-Schaffer said that there’s likely some loss of antibodies during freezing and reheating milk, but “you do not lose everything and some antibodies [and] protection are much better than none."

Katie Gilpatrick, of Epsom, stopped nursing when her now three-year-old was 15 months old. Now, she’s trying to relactate — pumping in order to try to restore her breast milk supply in order to pass along antibodies to her son. She started after receiving her first shot.

“It's hard work and time consuming, so if my day is busy I don't get to pump as I'd like,” she said. 

Despite that, she’s dedicated to the effort. 

“My only goal is to provide even just an ounce of milk to my son that has antibodies in it for his body to utilize,” she said. She’ll continue to provide her son even a small amount of breastmilk until there’s a vaccine for kids, or until the pandemic is well under control. 

Most people won’t go through the effort of relactating. However, Davis-Schaffer pointed out that parents simply getting the COVID vaccine provides a level of protection to their children. 

“There’s a ring of protection,” she said. 

Parents, grandparents and other close adults being vaccinated means that a child is less likely to have a close family member contract COVID, which therefore reduces their risk, Davis-Schaffer said. That’s not a new idea — for years doctors have urged family members of newborns to get the flu vaccine, which isn’t available to babies under six months. 

To protect their kids, parents should get vaccinated themselves, continue with precautions like mask wearing and frequent hand washing, and keep the whole family up-to-date on routine vaccinations, Davis-Schaffer said. 

For moms like Gravell, nursing on top of those measures provides a bit of extra peace of mind. 

“Of course we’re still careful,” Gravell said, “but it’s such a relief to feel like I have at least some small form of defense against this disease.” 

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.