There is an ongoing debate about rooming-in for neonates born to mothers with COVID-19 disease. Rooming-in promotes bonding and leads to better outcomes for both mother and baby. The unprecedented nature of COVID-19 has led to practices aimed at protecting newborns but may come with risks of losing the momentum of rooming-in that has been achieved over past decade. In this pilot study, well neonates born at or near term (>36 weeks gestational-age) were roomed in with their mothers who were positive for SARS-Co-V-2 infection, in a single room with infection control education according to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations and followed weekly through telehealth for 2 weeks after discharge. Of the 49 infants, none developed any symptoms of COVID-19. One out of 49 infants tested positive for SARS-Co-V-2 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) but repeat testing at 48-hours was negative. Our pilot study showed that rooming-in may be considered for term/near term infants with asymptomatic mothers with COVID19, while limiting transmission risk through infection control and education measures.
