ANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -During the last 3 months of pregnancy, antibodies from mothers are passed to their unborn babies through the placenta. This type of immunity is called passive immunity because the baby has been given antibodies rather than making them itself.

Detailed explanation-2: -“An infant’s immune system doesn’t mature until they’re about two to three months old, ” Dr. Sabella says. “In those first few months, the immune system-especially cell-mediated immunity-becomes more developed. This is very important in helping a child fight off viruses.”

Detailed explanation-3: -Breastfeeding mothers can pass along the antibodies in their breast milk, which means that even if the antibodies were not passed along via the placental layer, newborns can still receive some immune protection from the mother.

Detailed explanation-4: -Maternal antibodies, specifically immunoglobulin G (IgG), are passed to the fetus to provide passive immunity throughout much of pregnancy. However, both protective and pathogenic autoantibodies have equal access to the fetus (Goines and Van de Water, 2010).