What if you’ve had a late marriage and you are trying to conceive right away because there isn’t time left to beat your biological clock? What if you’ve had a miscarriage recently and you want to try again as soon as possible?
Or what if you were already pregnant from way before the world ever heard of the novel coronavirus and you are now uncertain about what you and your baby will face in a post COVID-19 world.
Is it wise to try to conceive in the time of a global pandemic? Should you wait it out, and if already pregnant, what should you do in terms of protecting your unborn baby and you?
If you are thinking of trying for a baby, there are no clear answers at this point in time and any decision you make should be a personal one based on your current situation. Both you and your husband should consider your own medical histories, mental health and finances before making a decision.
Whatever you decide, always remember, there are always mitigating factors to the current scenario.
MCO Extended till May 12
First, let’s look at the good news, and that is: the pandemic will come to an end as all pandemics do if you look at world history. Similarly, the Movement Control Order (MCO) that began on March 18, will be lifted in due time.
From the initial three-digit growth of new daily infections of COVID-19 in the early days, Malaysia has been reporting a declining trend of double digits in recent weeks.
This is a good sign.
“If COVID-19 cases continue to register significant decrease, the government might relax the movement control in stages in a few sectors, including the social sector,” Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had said when announcing the extension of the MCO into its fourth phase until May 12.
This is because the efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 still needs to be maintained until the authorities are confident that there would not be another surge.
1. Signs of COVID 19 Petering Out
On April 25, Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said that Malaysia is now entering the Covid-19 recovery phase.
He further added that the infectivity of Covid-19 has successfully been brought down to below 1.
Infectivity (or how easily a disease spreads) is calculated through the Health Ministry’s modelling of the disease through a figure called R0 ─ pronounced R-Naught. He said the R0 of COVID-19 was 3.55 before the MCO was imposed. By mid-April, the R0 was successfully brought down to below 1 which means that the disease is now under control.
Earlier the Health Ministry had outlined six criteria for ending the MCO. They are: security control, movement control, the capability of the country’s healthcare system, the ability to protect the high-risk group, practising the new normal, and implementing preventive measures in the community.
So far, the country has been able to meet several of these criteria such as movement control within the country, security control at the borders, and the healthcare system’s ability to detect, test and treat Covid-19 patients.
Dr Noor Hisham stressed that the “new normal” of frequent hand washing and social distancing should be continued for at least the next six to 12 months.
We may not be out of the woods yet but all indications point to a country that is slowly reopening its shutters in an abating storm.
2. Virus Not Transmitted to Fetuses in Utero
If you are pregnant right now or trying to conceive, do feel reassured that a study out of China has shown that COVID-19 is not transmitted to the unborn baby during the pregnancy. Although it was a very small study involving only nine pregnant women with COVID-19 in the third trimester, none of the babies died or had breathing problems when they were born. All the newborns had an Apgar score of >9 at 5 minutes. No virus was detected in the amniotic fluid, cord blood, colostrum or breast milk of the women. On top of that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that there doesn’t appear to be an increased risk of miscarriage, birth defects or stillbirth if having a baby during the time of Covid-19. Even in the event that the pregnant woman does contract COVID-19, no vertical transmission of the virus has been found thus far.
These reports are indeed good news. Your pregnancy is safe as far as research can tell. To further allay your fears, here is what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said about the possibility of COVID-19 being passed from the woman to her unborn or newborn child.
“We still do not know if a pregnant woman with COVID-19 can pass the virus to her foetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery. To date, the virus has not been found in samples of amniotic fluid or breastmilk.”
WHO says they “still do not know” because three small but more recent reports (published in March 26 onwards) had shown there are quite a few cases where mothers infected with COVID-19 had given birth to babies that showed elevated levels of certain antibodies associated with COVID-19. All the data was collected from infected mothers at Wuhan Children’s Hospital, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Although these studies suggest that the virus could pass through the placenta, none of the babies or the mothers became critical or developed severe symptoms. All recovered.
What we can learn from this is: Don’t get infected yourself and you will not infect your baby.
End word: Never listen to rumours or scare mongers as a lot of the news they spread are only designed to frighten you. For your most reliable answers, check with your doctor, our Ministry of Health and with world authorities on the matter such as WHO.
3. Children’s Low Susceptibility to COVID-19
If you are concerned about passing Covid-19 to your newborn or other children, it should be noted that generally, children under 18 are less susceptible to the coronavirus although there have been rare cases where children under five have been tested positive.
In Malaysia, it has been reported in many newspapers that two-year-old Muhammad Fateh Aqil bin Mohd Nazmee is the country’s youngest COVID-19 patient. However, this is because the child is a leukemia patient. His weakened immune system and cancer make him especially vulnerable to the virus.
If your older children are otherwise healthy, they would generally not be very adversely affected by the virus. The incidence of children requiring intensive care is very low. It can be said that COVID-19 disproportionately affects older patients and those with underlying conditions.
4. Breastfeeding is Encouraged
If breastfeeding is your intention and your goal after delivering, worry not. Breastfeeding is highly encouraged. WHO says, even if mum has COVID-19, she can still breastfeed as close contact and early, exclusive breastfeeding helps a baby to thrive. However mum should:
- Practice respiratory hygiene such as covering nose and mouth with bent elbow or tissue and wearing a mask during breastfeeding
- Wash hands before and after touching the baby
- Routinely clean and disinfect surfaces she has touched
If for any reason you are too unwell to breastfeed, you should still support the baby with breastmilk by:
- Expressing milk
- Relactation (restarting breastfeeding after a lapse)
- Using donor human milk
Other practices of hygiene should include:
- Washing hands frequently
- Avoid touching face
- Staying away from anyone with a cough or showing any symptoms of respiratory disease
- Practising social distancing of at least 1 meter apart
- Grandparents should try to avoid being too close to their grandchildren
- Baby showers, full month celebration or birthday parties and other gatherings and social get-togethers should be avoided
Trying to Conceive
Should women to try to conceive right now? Look at it this way. In nine months’ time, the pandemic could be over. We would have gathered more information about the disease by then and we would be several steps closer to getting a vaccine. Quite certainly too, MCO should also be over and done with by that time and we would have our mobility and access to healthcare and other areas back again.
Lockdowns and quarantines have their strife and strain. Being confined 24/7 to the four grey walls of the house with screaming children while trying to work can be stressful if not near impossible but, with partaking in a little intimacy with your husband, a lot of the buildup of staying indoors can be relieved
It’s a known fact that sex relieves tension. It raises endorphins and other hormones that boost mood. As a form of exercise, it can help relax and calm you down too, and that is something that will be most beneficial in bringing in more harmony and understanding between mum and dad and all in the family.
When deciding to conceive for whatever reason, it is best to go with the most reliable and trusted indicator of ovulation in the market.
Ovulation and Conception
Ovulation is necessary for conception. Ovulation is the process in a woman’s menstrual cycle when a mature oocyte (egg) is released from the ovary to travel down the fallopian tube so that it can be fertilized by a waiting sperm to conceive a baby. Without this fundamental action of ovulation, a baby cannot be made.
The thing is, it isn’t that easy to make a baby. The egg that has been released can only be fertilized for up to 24 hours after ovulation. Therefore you need to know the exact days of when you are ovulating as you can only conceive when your egg gets fertilized. If it isn’t fertilized within this time frame, the egg and the lining of your uterus will be shed and your period will begin, marking the start of your next menstrual cycle.
For many women hoping and trying to have a baby, the loss of yet another opportunity can be emotionally devastating.
Don’t Rely on Chance
Instead of relying on chance, bank your hopes on digital accuracy ─ 99% of it ─ so that you can pinpoint the exact days when to place sperm in the uterus to “catch” your egg and conceive.
The best time to “catch” the egg is during the “fertile window”. Your fertile window during each menstrual cycle is the day of ovulation and the day before. These are your two days of peak fertility. If you miss your fertile window, the chances of getting pregnant will be slim.
So when is your fertile window? Clearblue Digital Ovulation test can tell you with ease. There is a hormone called the luteinising hormone (LH) that will be released by your rising estrogen levels 24 to 36 hours before ovulation. This hormone will be found in your urine.
This is what it looks like out of the box ─ your Clearblue Digital Ovulation test kit. Use it to help you identify your two most fertile days of each cycle.
What Clearblue Digital Ovulation test will do is: it will measure the LH surge in your midstream urine. If LH is detected, it then tells you through a digital smiley face on the test stick that you are going to ovulate and these are your two most fertile days where having sex could most likely lead you to conceive.
Knowing your fertile window, with 99% digital accuracy, is knowing when you will have your highest chance to conceive. If you want that baby, why not give yourself that winning chance and try Clearblue today.
To find out more about Clearblue, visit its website here
To learn more about ovulation, conception and pregnancy, visit Motherhood.com.my