anybody else in 2 minds about swine flu jab?

[jlo1234]

i asked my doctor if he recommends me getting the swine flu jab, and he wasnt very convincing. he said its reccomended by the government but he doesnt know much about it himself so he would leave it up to the patient.

a friend said that she had had hers, shes a nurse who works in intensive care unit and said she thinks i should definatly have it because there has been a few pregnant women in there with swine flu and they are really ill with it.

the only thing that is holding me back is the fact that the vaccine is so new and hasnt been round for long enough for us to know if and what the long term side affects might be.

i feel like a guinnee pig and its putting me off, but then again i dont know what is the lesser of 2 evils, risk getting swine flu and putting both me and baby in danger or have the jab and risk side affects that havent been found yet.

i feel like im far enough along in my pregnancy for it to not cause much harm to the baby, (im nearly 33 weeks) but im just not sure what to do! it also confuses me that pregnant women cant have the seasonal flu vaccine but we can have the swine flu one?

has anybody actually had it, if so what made u decide u wanted it and did u regret it?
or has anybody else heard something to make them definatly not want it?

[bigpreggybelly]

I have no doubts about having it and will be in a couple of days.

Swine flu is meant to be more severe in women in the later stages of pregnancy than the first. There have now been several reports about pregnant women dying from swine flu or ending up in ICU.

I haven't heard any reports about any pregnant women dying from the swine flu vaccine.

I don't understand why so many pregnant women are determined to refuse everything that the medical profession offers to help them. They wouldn't offer it if they thought it would cause an issue.

[SuziDee]

Hi

I'm 33 weeks as well and have decided not to have the jab, I was told by the GP that she was "advised to advise me to have it" hmmmmmm.

Having thoroughly researched the risks I have found that if you catch SF in pregnancy you have a 4% chance of being hospitalised, of these women the majority are obese or have diabetes or asthma, as I am reasonably healthy I feel that I am less worried about the risk of catching SF than having an untested vaccine. Obviously the choice is up to you. I also found that Sweden and Switzerland have both withdrawn the vaccine for pregnant women.

Hope this helps a bit! The choice is only yours though

[SuziDee]

preggybelly have you never heard of thalidomide?

[RnB]

BPB I think it is unfair to say "I don't understand why so many pregnant women are determined to refuse everything that the medical profession offers to help them".

Er...no one is talking about refusing everything, but many people are rightly concerned about having a new vaccine and feeling like a guinea pig.

The concern is for the unborn child. Of course, there is terrible concern for getting swine flu too. That is why jlo1234 is trying to make an informed decision.

[mosschops30]

I think you'll find thalidomide was offered to women in early pregnancy.
Most people are sensible enough to have SF vaccine later on when fetus is developed, plus you are less at risk from SF in 1st trimester.
Also if you look at WHO, pg women are 12 times more likely to contract SF and then 4 times more likely to develop complications and end up in intensive care.

I had the vaccine, figured that my baby was developed, healthy and was more at risk of me contracting SF than at risk from the vaccine. Also have 2 children I have to protect.

I am a nurse and pro vaccination. It was a hard decision, and theres not much good reading to be done, but Im glad I had the vaccine it was the right decison for me

[SuziDee]

I was just making the point that sometimes the medical profession can get it wrong, not that this vaccine would cause that kind of defect, I think that blind faith in the WHO is a bit dangerous

[EldonAve]

here is the main discussion thread

SuziDee- do you have any links for Sweden/Switzerland withdrawing the vaccine please?

[mosschops30]

I dont have blind faith in any of it - did I mention it??
Im just giving my opinion, and you mentioning thalidomide is completely irrelevant and unhelpful.
Im sure any sensible adult knows there are no hard and fast rules and that certainly the medical profession dont know everything, but you have to weigh up the pros and cons and make the best decision for you.

[SuziDee]

Hi Eldon thanks for the link, seems that Switzerland is not advising the use of Pandemrix for pregnant women, under 18s and over 60's in part due to suspicion over deaths in sweden.... who as far as I can now see are not banning the vaccine

www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/292501,switzerland-authorises-two-pandemic-vaccin es-for-h1n1.html

[thedollshouse]

I have gone from being adament that I wouldn't have it to almost booking myself an appointment to have it. I have eventually concluded that I won't be having it for the following reasons:

• I reacted very badly to the seasonal flu jab 9 years ago.
  
  
• My consultant told me not to touch the vaccine with a barge pole.
  
  
• My GP said the official line is that is safe and she has been told that all GP's are to have it but she is still undecided and doesn't feel in a position to advise anyone.
  
  
• My midwife said that everyone should make their own decision and that it was a personal matter and not something that she could advise on. She said her personal opinion is that if she was pregnant she would only have the jab if she had an underlying medical condition such as asthma.
  
  
• My GP thinks I have most likely already had swine flu anyway. I had a virus a little while ago which I have just recovered from. Ds also has suspected swine flu at the moment.
  
  The main issue for me is the reaction I had to the seasonal flu vaccination, chances are I would be fine but I don't want to risk going through that in pregnancy.

[MarshaBrady]

Bigpreggybelly pregnant women aren't concerned about the sf vaccination because they think they will die from it.
They are concerned because the medical profession is only dealing with the best information they have (which is fair enough). No one can say with certainty what the situation will be.

At 35 weeks I think I will have it.

[WhiteRoses]

As it stands, NOTHING would persuade me to have this injection. The vast majority (over 95%) of pregnant women with Swine 'Flu don't even end up in hospital. Of those that do, most have underlying health problems, and yet the vast majority of those still recover.

I'd be wary of any vaccine, but this one is very new and has already been withdrawn in other countries. PLUS! Even the medical professionals who have been TOLD to recommend it, aren't necessarily doing that!

[MarshaBrady]

Although... Reading thedollshouse post...

[hannahsaunt]

Dh (hospital dr) and I have done extensive research (I am now 26.5wks) and made the decision that I should have Celvapan and my GP surgery was very happy with that when talking that through with them about a month ago. However, there are still NO stocks of Celvapan available in our area and the hospital in which dh works is seeing weekly exponential rises in SF admissions; 2 of his immediate colleagues were swabbed and sent home yesterday with probably SF; 2 of his patients went to ITU yesterday, one with SF-related encephalitis. More research has been done and when he came home last night he basically said get on and have whatever is available ASAP (bearing in mind Celvapan is 2 doses over 3 weeks and so immunity takes about a month). We have 3 other children to consider as well.

As such I'm booked in for Saturday morning with my GP to have Pandremix; quite nervous but risk/benefit scenario says yes. There is a lot of good stuff available from Canada - they are now saying Pandremix as long as you are over 20 weeks. I feel I've left it as long as I can to give the baby the best possible chance but any longer would be comprising me, the baby and my other children.

[SuziDee]

Moss that's exactly what I said in the 1st post that it is a very personal decision I wasn't attacking you and think it came across wrongly I totally respect your informed decision and didn't mean that you were having "blind faith", PreggyBelly was just incredulous that anyone would question the medical professions choices and I was just giving an example of a time they have got it wrong. I am not anti-vaccine my 2 yr old and myself have had all vaccines offered in the past, I just feel that this one is non-essential for me as my personal choice so no offence intended

[mosschops30]

oh yes and thanks for the useful link to that well known medical peer reviewed articles on 'earthtimes.org' much more reliable than the WHO information

[SuziDee]

did you not read my post?

[mosschops30]

hannahs I agree with you, (not for having the vaccine), but when you listen to hospital doctors and realise the extent of the problem it really does wake you up.
When I went to work for mine (hospital occ health dept) there were so many people getting it done, cleaners, nurses, doctors. And plenty of those doctors discussing how the rates of admission to hospital and ITU had risen recently.
I also know what you mean about protecting unborn baby and children. If I had contracted and died from SF during pg then I would not only have lost my baby but my children would have been left without a mum and I couldnt bear that.

[mosschops30]

yes suzi I did read your post, but talking about things like thalidomide (a drug given to women some 30 years ago - and surely we've moved on since then medically) and then making reference to some crap website just makes me angry.
I could find information on the internet that tells you a cat is actually a dog, or that black is white, but thats the internet for you.

I am (and have done) quite prepared to read decent information from the internet, but its easy to prove whatever you want on here, and its not always right, and people dont always know the difference between good and bad pieces of material.

Im not trying to be argumentative or disrespectful I just dont think youre offering anything useful to the OP

[thedollshouse]

I think the problem is that medical opinion is so divided about the issue that it is really difficult to make an informed decision. I have yet to speak to one medical professional who has said "yes go ahead, have it it is for the best". I then read posts like yours mosschops30 about hospital rates for admission and I think well maybe I should be having it.

I have my 20 week appointment with a different consultant shortly, I will discuss it with her and see what she says. I bet £5 she says "its a personal choice, I can't advise you blah blah blah..."

[mothermirabelle]

I have had the jab (after much deliberation I must confess) -last Saturday - and am OK. I'm only 15 weeks so a lot less far along than some of you. My baby is due in May and there's a lot of winter to get through yet when Swine Flu will no doubt continue to rear it's ugly head...so I feel happier having had it.

My main concern is that I already have a six year old daughter and I want to make sure I stay healthy for her right now. I travel quite a lot in my job (overseas so largely plane travel) and I just don't want to take the risk of picking it up.

It wasn't an easy decision but for me I just feel the risk of having the jab is much less than the risk of contracting SF. I hope I'm not proved wrong!

Having said that I can completely understand why so many women have said no or remain undecided...and I don't think GPs and NHS staff are helping this matter (apologies to any of you that fall into this catergory)...but remarks from GPs and MWs like "I've been advised to advise you to have it" or "it's up to you" really aren't that helpful are they? Either pregnant women are a high risk group and health care professionals need to help us deal with this...or we're not. So let's try and get a consistent message of some sort out there.

Anyway, best of luck to you whatever decision you make.

[mosschops30]

I agree with whats been said about healthcare professionals.
It was easier for me, my GP and midwife had it on the same day, although neither would 'advise' me to have it, just the 'the government' were recommending it for pg women.

I do think my choice was easier than for some of you, I was 38 weeks, almost 39 when I had it done

[heth1980]

I agree that bringing up thalidomide is completely unhelpful and just scaremongering. It was 30 years ago and I'm sure the medical profession has learnt from it and would never put themselves in a similar situation again. In fact it really makes me quite angry that you even mentioned it - it was an anti-sickness drug and was nothing to do with vaccines or flu!
At the end of the day, the swine flu vaccine is very similar to the normal flu vaccine which is routinely given to pregnant women in other countries with no problems. I intend to have the vaccine (if my GP every gets round to offering it to me!) because if I were to suffer complications and die from swine flu I would leave my 20 month old without a mummy.

[SuziDee]

I was just asked to post a link to the news story not medical research, I have referred to the WHO statistics in making a decision it is just that Switzerland are not advising the use of pandemrix, can provide a different one if that helps

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/healthfluswitzerlandbritaingskrestrict

[SuziDee]

I was just making the point that sometimes the medical profession get it wrong that is all NOT saying in any way that this is what the jab could do I have said that already and am happy to remove the post