Covid vaccine whilst pregnant

"I am sure after another month numbers will drop again and cases should be lowish for the rest of the year."

Love the staying positive attitude but how can you be sure of that?

Surely all indicators are suggesting were caught in the shadow of Briain going for herd... case numbers are only going to keep rising.

I can understand your concern.

However, your assumption that cases will drop is very optimistic, to the point of being unrealistic. Cases are going to go up a LOT before they start falling. And pregnant women are at high risk of serious illness and premature birth if you do get infected.

That is not to scare you. If you choose not to get vaccinated, I would say that you need to get really, really serious about shielding and to be really careful about only mixing with vaccinated people. You already have other kids so if they're in creche or school, this is a risk you cannot control.

Current evidence is that the vaccine does not cross the placenta. That's really important. And hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pregnant women have already been vaccinated around the world. It's too early to say for certain that there are no effects but early indications are good.

It's a horrible situation to be in if you're not comfortable with it. All I can really recommend is that you do as much reading up as possible but from reputable sources and make an informed choice that you can live with. Talk to your consultant, talk to your GP.

But please do not underestimate the risk of not getting the vaccine either.

My wife is in the exact same boat as you, there's no right answer really imo, either way is a risk but I suppose we know the dangers of covid whereas the potential dangers of a new vaccine are unknown.

One question I have though, if we are being told the vaccine does not in anyway pass through the placenta, how are babies then being born with the antibodies?

I agree generally with your post apart from where you say that the dangers of COVID are known. We have a good sense of what the immediate impact of COVID is. But we are less sure about longer term. Multi-year studies have only just got under way. We won’t know what the long term impact of this nasty virus is for several years.

Preliminary Findings of mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine Safety in Pregnant Persons | NEJM

The New England Journal of Medicine is probably the most respected medical jourmal in the world. Here's a study of nearly 36,000 pregnant vaccinated women.

This is where I saw it originally though

its the post from 6 day’s ago

I was the same. I was set to wait until after i had gave birth in november and was happy with my decision. I will be working from home until then, no other kids and i didnt mind not eating out or staying away from busy shopping centres. Was happy to keep a low profile

However the last week made me very uncomfortable and ive changed my mind. I not overly happy to be getting it but just the risk got too great. It only take another individual no matter how many precautions you are takign yourself. Over near my parents there is a group who truely believe no need for vaccines god will save us and going around without masks.

If i had older kids i probably would have gotten it before now. Not to scare you but a close friend had to deal with it when one of hers bought it home from the local primary school

That's appalling advice.

OP I'm not weighing in on your choice, I just have a point to make in the thread

This is a strange document. Its summary describes the opposite to the findings in the papers it cites.

E.g. RCPI document says: "COVID-19 is more serious for pregnant women. Pregnant women with symptoms of COVID-19 infection are more likely to need admission to an ICU or to die when compared with women without COVID-19 or similar aged non-pregnant women"

The papers it cites that address this are:

Females in Hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection, the association with pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes - report (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Pregnancy Outcomes Among Women With and Without Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection | Global Health | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network

They conclude:

"In absolute terms pregnant women admitted to hospital with symptomatic COVID-19 were not at greater risk of adverse outcome ... 'Adverse Outcome' defined as any of death or need of invasive mechanical ventilation or admission to a critical care area."

"SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy was not associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Neonatal infection may be as high as 3% and may occur predominantly among asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic women. Placental abnormalities were not associated with disease severity, and hospitalization frequency was similar to rates among nonpregnant women." .... "These findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy is not associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes."

It does appear true that pregnant women are more likely to be admitted to hospital, but this seems to be because of routine tests for pregnant women and due to a lower threshold for admission for pregnant women:

"Pregnant females have a shorter length of stay in hospital than those who are not pregnant, even when excluding asymptomatic pregnant women. This suggests that there is a lower threshold for admission of pregnant women regardless of symptom status, and that pregnant women are typically discharged after a short period of inpatient observation"

Females in Hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection, the association with pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes - report (publishing.service.gov.uk)

It cites 3 studies of the characteristics of pregnant women admitted with COVID-19 and their outcomes, but none provide baselines:

Characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women admitted to hospital with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK: national population based cohort study | The BMJ

Poor maternal–neonatal outcomes in pregnant patients with confirmed SARS-Cov-2 infection: analysis of 145 cases | SpringerLink

Females in Hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection, the association with pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes - report (publishing.service.gov.uk)

In one paper, 70% were overweight or obese and 34% had other comorbidities, and in the other, 60% had a prior history of respiratory illness. So on what basis should these findings be used for generalisation to a wider population, as the RCPI doc does?

It also cites one meta-analysis that does show slightly higher risk of negative outcomes, but this meta-analysis includes studies from the third world. It also concludes that the "risk factors for severe covid-19 in pregnancy include increasing maternal age, high body mass index, non-white ethnicity, pre-existing comorbidities, and pregnancy specific disorders such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia"

There were no ill effects for the children of women vaccinated with the swine flu vaccine.

Epilepsy and narcolepsy are not the same thing - there is no connection to epilepsy from the swine flu vaccine. It is chinese whispers.

Like, by all means be against vaccines but the OP is trying to weigh up a big decision and you're steaming in with incorrect information to get your own agenda across.

No agenda here, me and my wife are in the exact same position as the op, it's a risk either way and someone telling you your an idiot because you aren't jumping feet first into getting an emergency use vaccine without a certain amount of caution and mistrust is beyond ridiculous. No one can say that these vaccines will not cause issues with children down the line (straight from my GP) only that covid certainly causes problems in the present if you are pregnant.

I've gotten my first Pfizer shot btw just in case someone thinks I'm an anti-vaxxer, primarily to protect my wife and child. Vaccines are amazing and have saved countless lives over the decades, but there hasn't been enough time or data related to full term pregnancies to conclude side effects etc.

Can you tell my wife and the op that these vaccines will 100% not cause any issues with children in the years after birth? I'm happy your wife and child are doing well.

As for "emergency use vaccine", that is exactly what these are, there's no come back at all if they cause issues down the line.

I am almost 20 weeks pregnant. I had my first vaccine at 14+3 and my second at 18+3. I of course was nervous taking anything in pregnancy, I avoid a paracetamol if I can. This is my third pregnancy, the first ended in stillbirth unexpectedly at almost 42 weeks. It was a perfectly healthy low risk pregnancy. The only explanation after post mortem was some delayed maturation of the blood vessels in the placenta. The risk of placental issues with covid made taking the vaccine for me a no brainer. Through the stillbirth community I have met more people than usual with 2nd and 3rd trimester losses, unexplained. They will always wonder if they might have had asymptomatic covid that caused their baby to die. For me, covid has very real and proven risks, both to the mother and the baby (as well as to the staff in the hospital who would be forced to treat a covid positive mother). Of course none of us know what might come out in the future about the vaccine, but everything I have read and discussed with many doctors is that this is a safe vaccine in pregnancy. No-one knows what the long term impact of covid in pregnancy may have on the baby either.

I might have considered not taking it if I could have totally cocooned, not sending my son to preschool, not going to the shops, not meeting anyone. Even at that though, with the numbers of this new variant, I think its too big a risk.

I wish you well in your decision. Taking a relatively new vaccine in pregnancy isn't a comfortable thing to do. Getting a relatively new virus with unknown risks and consequences also isn't a good position to be in. For me, it's about the balance of risk. We're in a different world, pregnant in a global pandemic. I for one am very glad to have taken all options available to be to protect the daughter growing inside me.

Augustduck it is your choice what to do. I personally think pregnant woman should get the vaccine as the risks if you catch covid are high. We do not know whether the impact of covid during pregnancy will be even worse with the current variants. It was only in January that we heard about the stillbirths from covid.

However to answer your question about how to manage the risk of not getting jabbed, I absolutely think you need to cocoon and protect yourself and your baby. The delta variant is spreading so much more than previous variants. Ensure anyone living in your home is taking very careful precautions took.

If you truly are torn, please do read some of the excellent reputable links above. I wish you well.