Woman with coronavirus gives birth, baby tests negative in Karachi

KARACHI: A woman who was diagnosed with coronavirus last week gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Saturday.

According to doctors, the woman gave birth to a healthy boy and the baby has initially tested negative for the COVID-19.

The 35-year-old mother was registered with the hospital at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Ojha campus. She was tested for the COVID-19 after she started showing symptoms last week.

According to a DUHS spokesperson, after her test returned positive, special arrangements were made for the baby’s delivery.

The baby was born on Saturday through a scheduled caesarian section and weighed 3.1 kilograms at birth. The patient’s previous two children were also born via C-section, according to the DUHS.

The hospital administration said that the newborn was instantly shifted to the children’s unit of the hospital and his samples were taken to ascertain whether he was infected with the novel COVID-19.

Prof Saeed Khan said at the hospital said the newborn’s initial COVID-19 test came back negative, adding that blood samples of the baby had also been taken to test for Covid-19 anti-bodies. Further diagnostic tests of the baby are being carried out, Khan added.

Last month, another woman who had tested positive for the COVID-19 had given birth to a baby at the Civil Hospital Karachi. The hospital management had at the time said both the newborn and the mother were in stable condition. Doctors said the baby tested negative for the COVID-19.