Reasons For Pregnant Women to Get COVID-19 Vaccinated

According to a Public Health England (PHE) blog written by Julie Yates on August 26, 2021, COVID-19 vaccines might offer unborn children some protection against COVID-19.

Recent research suggests protective antibodies generated in response to COVID-19 vaccination can be passed from mother to newborn during pregnancy and through breastmilk after birth.

There is no current evidence that COVID-19 vaccination while breastfeeding causes any harm to breastfed children or affects the ability to breastfeed. However, according to PHE, additional research is needed to determine how much protection these antibodies offer or how long that protection would last.

Furthermore, there is no current evidence of any serious side effects for vaccinated pregnant women.

And it is still unclear whether the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus can be transmitted vertically.

Only about 2% of neonates born to COVID-positive mothers in the UK test positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the first 12 hours of life (Vousden et al., 2021).

The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) thoroughly monitors any suspected side effects involving pregnancy and COVID-19 vaccination.

The current evidence does not show an increased risk of miscarriage or stillbirth following vaccination against COVID-19.

The MHRA says 'there is also no pattern from the reports to suggest that any of the COVID-19 vaccines used in the UK increase the risk of congenital anomalies or birth complications.'

Like most vaccines and medicines, clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant women were not carried out before the use in the general population. However, evidence from non-clinical studies of the COVID-19 vaccines available in the UK has not raised any concerns about safety in pregnancy.

One reason is the mRNA vaccines do not contain living organisms that can multiply in the body, so they cannot infect an unborn baby in the womb.

Moreover, the current advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is that the COVID-19 vaccines should be offered to those who are pregnant at the same time as non-pregnant individuals based on their age and clinical risk group.

You can also find more information from The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives decision guide about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and other helpful information.

For further advice, speak to a healthcare professional looking after you in your pregnancy.

Note: As of September 6, 2021, only thirty countries do NOT recommend pregnant women receive a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the COVID-19 Maternal Immunization Tracker, produced by Johns Hopkins University. And as of August 30, 2021, the U.S. CDC reported (135) pregnant women with COVID-19 have died since January 2020.

Pregnant & Breastfeeding Women COVID-19 Vaccine Research-Based news is published at this link.