[Michelle McGovern] I tested positive with COVID April 16th,
but that was after like being sick for a while.
I just kept having symptom after symptom
after symptom.
Being pregnant with twins,
it's hard to describe the panic and the fear.
I remember thinking, like, I'll never feel well again.
[Dr. Salvatore] New York was the epicenter of the pandemic
in the United States.
Our ICUs were all full, but for us, as pediatrics,
of course, we are looking at the kids.
[Dr. Riley] We were relying on the information
that we knew from influenza.
Pregnant women can do particularly poorly
um, with those infections.
[Michelle] It was really scary, right?
You take this COVID test and it comes back positive,
and then all the stories you hear about could apply to you.
[Dr. Permar] How were we going to deal with this virus?
How are we gonna keep children safe?
Weill Cornell was really at the heart of that.
[Dr. Salvatore] We wanted to do research in a clinical way,
establishing standard of care.
The pediatrician's offices at that time were closed,
so we created, very quickly I would say,
the Newborn COVID Clinic,
doing the basic pediatric visits.
[Dr. Riley] And people still needed prenatal care,
so we needed to figure out how to do that
in a way that was useful to patients, but also responsible.
[Michelle] The week before I had them,
I no longer had a fever, I hadn't had-
like, I passed all the checks, you know?
So I had a final scan, I think,
and I just went into the doctor with my mask.
[Mike McGovern] They admitted Michelle.
As I was walking over, someone said
Michelle had tested positive,
and they immediately took us to a COVID ward
and everyone was wearing head to toe PPE.
[Dr. Salvatore] They had two beautiful girls.
[Mike] There were so small.
I was able to hold, like, each one in a hand.
[Dr. Salvatore] The recommendations at that time
from different societies
was to isolate the baby, to not breastfeed the baby.
We didn't think that that was reasonable.
[Dr. Permar] That early life bonding
and the initiation of breastfeeding,
those are major pieces of a baby's health and wellbeing.
[Dr. Salvatore] We said, "You know what?"
"We'll implement standard precautions."
"We'll keep the babies in their room with the mom,"
"the baby in a closed isolate."
We said, "You have to use that mask,"
"you have to wash your hands, and they should breastfeed."
[Michelle] We were on, like, a proper quarantine.
We couldn't leave the room, we were wearing masks.
There was this feeling that if they didn't already have it,
we were going to keep them from getting it.
And that was really comforting.
We stayed in New York City through the worst of the pandemic
for Weill Cornell,
because we knew that we were gonna get the best care.
They were so kind to us and kind to the kids
and they were very thoughtful.
[Mike] Dr. Salvatore really took time
to answer all our questions afterwards.
[Michelle] She helped us not only keep them safe
kind of in the moment, but just sort of plan out the future
of what safety looked like in our lives.
[Mike] And really provided a lot of peace of mind.
[Dr. Salvatore] All the parents followed very strictly
our recommendations and one of the best thing was
at the mark two weeks, when we were calling them to say,
"That test is negative, so you finally can remove that mask"
"you can give a big kiss to your kid."
We were hearing, "Oh, my God"s, crying on the phone.
(marimba sounds)
[Michelle] Gabriel, he always goes, "They're adorable,"
"they're adorable."
[Mike] When he said, "Just what I've always wanted!"
[Michelle] "Just what I've always wanted!"
(laughs) That was very cute.
[Dr. Salvatore] Now we have followed almost 700 babies.
We were able to show that there was no transmission
through breastfeeding.
[Dr. Permar] And we didn't only figure out the process
that worked for our babies and our mothers,
we told the world.
[Dr. Salvatore] Our paper was widely publicized
around the world,
and I think that that has changed medicine.
We gave guidance to the world of how to deal
with these babies, that they can breastfeed,
that they can stay with their families.
[Michelle] It is really impactful to think
that we were able to be part of other people's stories.
Helping Weill Cornell paved the way for future families.
[Dr. Permar] Weill Cornell can further advance the science
that's gonna not only end this pandemic,
but prevent the next pandemics
and set the course for lifelong health,
starting from childhood.