When compared to non-pregnant people, Covid-19 Vaccines in pregnancy and breastfeeding or recently pregnant women are more likely to become extremely ill with COVID-19. You can get a COVID-19 vaccine if you’re pregnant.
A COVID-19 vaccine can protect you from serious COVID-19 sickness if you get it while you’re pregnant. A discussion with your healthcare professional may be beneficial if you have questions about immunisation, but it is not essential.
COVID-19 Increases the Risk of Severe Illness in Pregnant and Recently Pregnant Women
Although the overall risk of serious sickness from COVID-19 is minimal, pregnant and recently pregnant women are at a higher risk of severe illness than non-pregnant women.
A severe sickness is one that necessitates hospitalisation, intensive care, or the use of a ventilator or other special breathing apparatus, or one that results in death. Furthermore, pregnant women with COVID-19 have a higher risk of preterm delivery and may have a higher risk of additional negative pregnancy outcomes than pregnant women without COVID-19.
If you’re debating whether or not to get the COVID-19 vaccine while you’re pregnant, keep these things in mind
COVID-19 exposure is a possibility for you.
The dangers of a serious disease
Vaccination’s well-known advantages
The evidence about the safety of vaccinations during pregnancy is still limited, although it is growing.
Limited Data Are Available about the Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines for People Who Are Pregnant
Experts believe these vaccines are unlikely to harm a pregnant woman because of how they function in the body. However, research on the safety of COVID-19 vaccinations in pregnant women is still inadequate.
Clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccinations in pregnant women are now underway or planned. Vaccination manufacturers are also gathering and analysing data from participants in finished clinical studies who fell pregnant after receiving the vaccine.
There were no safety concerns in pregnant animals or their babies after receiving a Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, or J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine during or during pregnancy, according to studies.
Centers for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have safety monitoring systems in place to collect data on COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, which they will constantly monitor. The preliminary data from these systems is reassuring.
There were no safety issues for pregnant women who had been vaccinated or their kids based on these findings. Because the majority of the pregnancies reported in these systems are still going on, more follow-up data for people who were vaccinated immediately before or during pregnancy is needed. To better understand the effects of vaccination on pregnancy and newborns, we will continue to track persons who were vaccinated during all three trimesters of pregnancy.
The COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are mRNA vaccines that do not include the live virus that causes COVID-19 and hence cannot infect someone.
Furthermore, because mRNA does not penetrate the nucleus of the cell, where human DNA is maintained, mRNA vaccinations do not interact with a person’s DNA or create genetic alterations.
The J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine is a viral vector vaccine, which means it delivers vital instructions to human cells via a modified version of a separate virus (the vector).
Pregnant women in all trimesters of pregnancy have received vaccines that use the same viral vector, including in a large-scale Ebola immunisation experiment. In these studies, no unfavourable pregnancy-related outcomes, including those that harmed the newborn, were linked to immunisation.
Vaccination is a personal decision
If you are pregnant, you can receive a COVID-19 vaccine. You may want to have a conversation with your healthcare provider to help you decide whether to receive a vaccine that has been authorised for use under Emergency Use Authorization. While a conversation with your healthcare provider may be helpful, it is not required prior to vaccination.
The following are important factors to address with your healthcare provider:
- How probable you are to be exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as the hazards COVID-19 poses to you and your foetus or infant
- The following is a list of what is known about COVID-19 vaccines:
- How well they operate to develop body protection
- Vaccine side effects aren’t well-known, but there’s a growing body of evidence that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is safe.
- Vaccination and the transmission of antibodies to the foetus. People who got COVID-19 mRNA vaccines during pregnancy (mainly during the third trimester) have transmitted antibodies to their foetuses, according to recent reports, which could help protect them after delivery.
Vaccine Side Effects
After receiving any of the available COVID-19 vaccinations, side effects can develop, especially after the second dosage for vaccines that require two doses. After vaccination using mRNA vaccines, pregnant women have reported no different side effects than non-pregnant women (Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines). If you get a fever after getting vaccinated, you should take acetaminophen (Tylenol®) because fever has been linked to poor pregnancy outcomes in the past.
Some people have had allergic responses after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, however they are uncommon. If you’ve ever had an adverse response to another vaccine or injectable therapy, let your doctor know (intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous).
Key considerations you can discuss with your healthcare provider include:
- The unknown risks of developing a severe allergic reaction
- The benefits of vaccination
If you have an allergic reaction after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy, you can receive treatment for it.
PEOPLE WHO ARE BREASTFEEDING
People who are breastfeeding were not included in clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccinations that are currently authorised for use in the United States under an Emergency Use Authorization. There are no data on the following since the vaccines have not been studied on lactating women.
Safety of COVID-19 vaccines in lactating people
Effects of vaccination on the breastfed baby
Effects on milk production or excretion
COVID-19 vaccinations are not thought to pose a risk to nursing women or their breastfeeding kids, based on how they work in the body. As a result, lactating women can get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Breastfeeding mothers who have received COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations have antibodies in their breast milk, according to recent findings, which could help protect their newborns. More information is needed to determine the level of protection that these antibodies may offer to the newborn.
Would-be parents can acquire a COVID-19 vaccine if they are trying to conceive now or in the future.
There is currently no proof that any vaccine, including the COVID-19 vaccine, causes female or male reproduction issues, such as infertility. Routine pregnancy testing prior to COVID-19 vaccination is not recommended by the CDC.
You do not need to prevent pregnancy after having the COVID-19 vaccine if you are attempting to conceive. Scientists are currently examining COVID-19 vaccinations for adverse effects, as they are with all vaccines, and will post findings as they become available.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html