My husband caught COVID and is quite sick; he neglected to get his booster. I had my booster in my 3rd trimester. Baby seems totally fine, I’m feeling a little off but have no specific symptoms.
Thinking about this, I’m wondering how my baby is absorbing antibodies from me. Why doesn’t she just digest them?
Also, bonus question for the brave: if I breastfeed my sick husband, will he feel better sooner?
In: 1
His “feelings” covers a lot of waterfront.
Antibodies are somewhat difficult to digest, relative to carbohydrates. They can pass into the intestines and get into your system that way.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4355420/
Antibodies secreted in breastmilk are particularly resistant to being chopped up by enzymes. (It also takes us a while to develop stomach acidity, which is why babies are prone to botulism from honey.)
I know that some of the antibodies in breast milk have an extra component that help prevent their breakdown in the gut. These are called secretory antibodies and just having them coating the mouth and GI tract is a benefit as they will fight anything they come into contact with in the gut (probably why breastfed babies get less stomach bugs). From my understanding these antibodies can then be absorbed further down the small intestine into the blood further down the small intestine, giving an increased antibody level while the infant also
makes their own antibodies.
If your husband has already had a covid vaccine, and probably even if he hadn’t, I doubt your milk would boost his immunity. The issue with newborns is that they haven’t yet made their own antibodies because they haven’t been exposed to the environment. They antibodies they got fro you while you were pregnant reduce in number over the first six months of life. During this time the wee one is making their own. Breast milk tops up the baby with your antibodies during this time. Your husband will already have made an antibody response and is adult size, and adding a small amount to his proportionally larger volume from your breast milk probably not going to add any benefit.
The intestinal lining of infant mammals have ‘holes’ in them large enough to let the antibodies be absorbed. After a while these holes shrink, then antibodies no longer can be absorbed whole. They are just churned through the digestive system like any other protein/amino acid. Someone probably knows this stuff better than me, with the correct terms for it. But that’s the simplified explanation I remember from my agricultural education.
The breasts receive some saliva from the infant, including any virus, and will adjust the milk to suit the infant. Neat stuff!
Breastfeeding your husband will not directly aid his immune system, but it might make him cheer up if he’s into it. Also breast milk contain food for the good gut bacteria we need for a healthy immune system, so it might be helpful indirectly.
Nutrients are absorbed from your food. Why not antibodies? Your digestive tract is a mucous membrane designed for absorption.
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