A Singaporean woman, who was infected with the novel coronavirus in March when she was pregnant, has given birth to a baby with antibodies against the virus, offering a new clue as to whether the infection can be transferred from mother to child. Doctors in the city state’s public hospitals are now studying the impact of Covid-19 on unborn babies, adding to international efforts to better understand whether the infection can be transferred during pregnancy, how babies develop antibodies in the womb and whether they offer an effective shield against the virus. The baby was born this month without Covid-19 but with the virus antibodies, The Straits Times newspaper reported on Sunday, citing the mother. Unexplained deaths: how poor healthcare is fuelling Indian witch-hunts “My doctor suspects I have transferred my Covid-19 antibodies to him during my pregnancy,” Celine Ng-Chan told the paper. She had been mildly ill from the disease and was discharged from hospital after two-and-a-half weeks, The Straits Times said. But in the article, Ng-Chan said she was aware of another couple who were expecting their first child when they both fell ill with Covid-19 in March. Their baby, who was born on April 26 at the National University Hospital, was possibly the first baby born in Singapore with Covid-19 antibodies, said The Straits Times, adding that it was not known how many babies in Singapore has been born to women who had Covid-19 while they were pregnant. “It is still unknown whether the presence of these antibodies in a newborn baby confers a degree of protection against Covid-19 infection, much less the duration of protection,” said Tan Hak Koon, chairman of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology division at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. KK is one of the hospitals involved in the study of infected pregnant women in Singapore, details of which surfaced after the case of the baby born with antibodies was made public. The National University Hospital, which is also involved in the study, said it aims to look at the effects of Covid-19 on pregnant women, their foetus and outcomes after delivery. The World Health Organization says while some pregnant women have an increased risk of developing severe Covid-19, it is not yet known whether an infected pregnant woman can pass the virus to her fetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery. To date, the active virus has not been found in samples of fluid around the baby in the womb or in breast milk. Doctors in China have reported the detection and decline over time of Covid-19 antibodies in babies born to women with the coronavirus disease, according to an article published in October in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases . While there is evidence that transmission during pregnancy is rare, a small study in Italy suggested that it is possible, according to research published in the Nature journal in October. Other studies have shown Covid-19 antibodies can be passed to a child via breastfeeding, while KK’s Tan said there was evidence they could pass during pregnancy through the placenta to the baby. Additional reporting by SCMP’s Asia desk