A pregnant woman wearing a face mask and gloves holds her belly while waiting in line at St. Mary’s Church. Mary in Waltham, Mass., May 2020. A Utah doctor who was unknowingly pregnant when she received her first dose of COVID- Vaccine 19 says she initially hesitated to get a second vaccine, but now s ‘realizes that these vaccines are safe for pregnant women and their babies. (Charles Krupa, Associated Press)
SALT LAKE CITY – Dr. Hannah Imlay did not hesitate about the COVID-19 vaccine until she learned she was pregnant.
She had been pregnant without knowing it when she received the first dose, but now that she knew she was pregnant, the option of getting her second dose gave her a break as she wanted the best for her unborn child.
The pause did not last long. At the time, there wasn’t much data because pregnant women weren’t included in vaccine clinical trials, but as an assistant professor of infectious diseases at the University of Utah, she also knew how to evaluate the data that was there, and it seemed safe.
Imlay knew that COVID-19 vaccines are not live virus vaccines, which is the only type of vaccine that is recommended for pregnant women because of possible harm to the fetus. However, pregnant women are advised to get a flu vaccine and a tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine during pregnancy and can transmit useful antibodies to the fetus.
“I want to protect my child. Is having a vaccine the best opportunity for my child?” Imlay said. “From the point of view of infectious diseases, the ill effects of getting pregnant and not having a vaccine were much worse.”
After evaluating what he knew, it became clear. Imlay decided to receive the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The only side effect he experienced was a sore arm and a bit of fatigue. Shortly afterwards more data came out. Several people from the Moderna and Pfizer rehearsals were in the same situation he had been in. They found out they were pregnant after rehearsals began. The results showed that there was no harm to the fetus, but pregnant women who received placebo had poor results for both the fetus and the mother when contracting COVID-19.
According to research published earlier this year by the University of Utah Health, some of these results may include premature birth, cesarean delivery and high blood pressure during pregnancy. Mothers who choose not to be vaccinated and suffer from severe COVID-19 disease must make “heartbreaking decisions” between their health and their fetus, “Imlay said, as if she had to deliver early and put herself at risk. the health of the baby, whether to use medications to treat them COVID-19 that has not yet been tested in pregnant women and whether to intubate or connect with life support.
Most newborns who tested positive for COVID-19 showed mild or no symptoms and recovered, although some developed severe COVID-19.
During pregnancy, a person’s immune system changes, which means they become more susceptible to infections and viruses. They can also make people sick who are not pregnant. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pregnant women who contract COVID-19 are at increased risk for serious illness, which may require hospitalization, intensive care, and ventilation.
These risks are higher if the mother has certain underlying medical conditions, is over 25 years old, lives or works in a community with a high number of COVID-19 cases, or lives or works in a community with low levels of vaccination against COVID-19.
“Subsequently, the CDC and the FDA have done a very good job of controlling immunogenicity and labor. Both organizations have given us good, rewarding and rewarding news. The vaccine works well in pregnant women. It looks fantastic and very safe for I don’t know the long – term effects, but similar vaccines have had a long history of safety, “Imlay said.
“And – now more than ever – we have good data that yes, the vaccine is safe.”
In fact, a study earlier this year showed that not only are fetuses not harmed by their vaccinated mothers, but they benefit from them.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and its Ragon Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, MIT and Harvard have shown that vaccinated mothers can transmit antibodies to newborns through the placenta while they are pregnant and through breast milk during breastfeeding. Because infants and young children cannot yet be vaccinated against the new coronavirus, this is one of the only ways to induce immunity to protect them.
CDC experts recently joined the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (the two leading organizations representing obstetric care specialists) to recommend vaccination of all pregnant women. The statement explained that the current data found no increased risk of miscarriage among 2,500 pregnant women who received the COVID-19 vaccine in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.
“CDC encourages all pregnant people or people who are thinking about getting pregnant and those who are breastfeeding to get vaccinated to protect themselves from COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “Vaccines are safe and effective and it has never been more urgent to increase vaccinations, as we face the highly transmissible delta variant and see severe COVID-19 outcomes among unvaccinated pregnant women.”
There is also no evidence to indicate that COVID-19 vaccines have any effect on fertility among the millions of individuals who have so far received the vaccine, the statement added.
However, despite all the experts ’recommendations, the CDC reports that only 23% of U.S. pregnant women had been vaccinated by the end of July. Myths and misinformation about how vaccines have affected pregnant women have severely affected vaccination rates, as the delta variant has spread more rapidly among all people (including pregnant women) in recent weeks.
“Increased circulation of the highly contagious delta variant, low absorption of vaccines among pregnant women and increased risk of serious diseases and pregnancy complications related to COVID-19 infection among pregnant women make vaccination for this population is more urgent than ever, ”reads the CDC statement.
If you have more questions about how to get vaccinated while you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you can use MotherToBaby, a free, confidential service available in English and Spanish by phone or chat, available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.